Tortured fortunes and Puppy tears
by cersedshadow
Summary: Mokuba, Serenity and joey get kidnapped. Mokuba and Serenity escape, but Joey is still captured. What do the kidnappers want? Who are they working for? Will Seto get there in time to save the puppy? and will Joey get the family and love he always wanted? Re-read and properly proof read finally!
1. prologue

**Prologue**

The room was dark and cold. Three people trembled in between a stack of boxes. A thin blanket covered their bodies. The larger and older of the three held the two younger kids close to him.

"Ar-are you ok Joey.' Said one black haired boy whilst he clung to the elders' chest.

'Yeah, they didn't hurt me t' bad."

"Brother?" The other child, a girl with flowing red heir, whimpered.

"Don't cry Serenity. Don't cry. I'll get ya ou' of this" Joey could tell his words felt hollow to the two kids "...I promise."

The girl didn't respond, but simply clung to her brother more tightly. The blonde youth brought up his hand, the one that wasn't broken, to stroke her head lightly.

"Th-this is all my fault. If I hadn't called for help you would have never come to me and you and serenity would be safe.' The ebony haired boy cried.

'No. No. Don't say that Mokuba. It wasn't ya fault for callin' for help."

"Seto will find us. He'll be worried about me and come find us." Mokuba persisted. He repeated the words over and over in a hushed whisper. Clinging desperately to the hope that his brother would come.

"Yeah, Kaiba will find us." Joey soothed, rocking the boy back and forth. 'But it might be too late. There's no way for him to track us, and we don't know what these guys will do.' The blonde's mind was racing. Despite popular belief Joey was not stupid, his mind was going a mile a minute as he searched for a way to get his sister and Mokuba out. Joey Wheeler did not break his promises.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

Seto Kaiba had been having a bad day. First he had to go to school. A complete waste of time in his eyes as he was easily smarter than the teachers and had already learned what they were teaching when he was a kid. Then there was the Mutt, Joey Wheeler, his rival Yugi Motou and the rest of the gang. Mostly (though he would never admit it) they weren't that bad, but he could just not resist the urge to insult the Mutt after he tripped over his own feet. There was something just so tempting and amusing about getting the dog riled up. This had resulted in them having an argument and screaming at each other (Joey screamed and Kaiba smirked). The Mutts friends had got him to walk away from the argument with the temptation of food and Kaiba just couldn't stop himself from making a comment about a dog turning away from his master.

_Flashback_

"_Joey stop it, lets all try to be friends, Kaiba doesn't mean it." Yugi pleaded holding his best friend back with the help of his dark counterpart Yami._

"_Yeah the basterd ain't worth it Joe." Tristan stated, glaring at Kaiba. Kaiba smirked and glared back._

"_But he called me a dog an' insulted me _again_. The basterd needs teachin' a lesson." Joey growled at Kaiba then pouted at his friends for not seeing it his way._

"_Teach me a lesson, what are you going to teach. How to be a dog in twenty steps." Kaiba smoothly replied. Mentally congratulating himself for such (in his opinion) witty remark._

_Joey growled again, making him seem even more dog like. Yugi looked to Yami in desperation._

"_Come on Joey, lets go eat. Were missing lunch and the others will be waiting." Yami said, trying to persuade the blonds to drop the argument. Feeling Joey relax in his grip and stop trying to pounce on Kaiba, Yugi decided to jump on the chance._

"_I'll give you some of my sandwiches. Grandpa made too many this morning and I'm not that hungry."_

"_You can have my juice box too, I've got two today." Tristan said, catching on to what Yugi and Yami were trying to do. Gently pushing on his friend's chest to lead him to the door. The mention of food, especially free food, caused Joey to remember that he was indeed incredibly hungry._

"_Mm'kay…but I'm _not_ a dog, Kaiba" he added as an after thought, turning fully to the door and following his friends' one step behind. Kaiba had been watching the proceedings and didn't appreciate the fact he was being ignored. Kaiba Seto always got the last word._

"_A dog turning away from its master, maybe I should get you a leash. Untrained strays are nothing but worthless Mutts." Now, Kaiba had called the young 16 year old a lot of things in the time he knew him, but he had never called him worthless. Even in Kaiba's mind the blonde may be many things (mostly stupid) but he was not worthless. He had wanted the blonde's attention though and had spoken without thinking._

_Joey froze. His friends turned when they heard the insult, seeing how the blonde would react. Both they and Kaiba were surprised when Joey just stood there. _

_Kaiba could not see Joey's expression because the blonde's back was turned to him. So his curiosity moved him forward to investigate. Yugi and the other two could quite clearly see the blank stare that was etched on the youth's features and it scared them._

_Joey was known for his loud personality. Normally he should be screaming a Kaiba by now, or trying to wrestle him on the floor. Instead he was standing stock still, looking like he could be carved out of granite._

"_Joey?" Yugi gingerly asked. Kaiba was closer to the blonde than his friends, so reaching out a hand in curiousity he turned Joeys face towards him._

"_Hay, Mutt?" That did it._

_Joey spun and then Kaiba was on the floor, his face already forming a nasty bruise where the fist had hit him. Seto was in shock, so much so that even his genius mind needed a moment to comprehend what had happened to him._

_No one said anything; Kaiba's mind slowly came to the conclusion that Joey had hit him. Actually HIT HIM. The blonde had never done that before, no matter how many times Kaiba insulted him. Their arguments had always ended up in Joey's humiliation or a teacher stopping it to continue with the class. Rarely did they end up wrestling on the floor, rolling around and using their weights to topple the other. Joey was not known for being a violent person and he had actually hit him, punched him right in the face. It wasn't gentle either. The impact had lifted him up of the ground and thrown him into the air. Before landing on floor staring up at his attacker._

_The silence continued. Joey looked down a Seto. Seto starred up at Joey. (Talk about role reversal) Joey turned, walked past his still gaping friends, their eyes following his retreat into the hall and out of site._

_End flashback_

After that Seto had to spend the rest of the day at school with his head resting in one hand to hide the purple mark. At work, this was impossible and people had inquired as to what happened. Seto had shut them up with a glare. He had to cancel the meetings he had scheduled that day, spending the whole time holed up in his office staring at the computer screen. Since there was only so much he could do and so much scowling the screen could take, Seto had decided to go home early. It was only seven when he opened the door to his mansion.

He would have to explain what happened to his little brother, Mokuba, once he saw the bruise. The kid would be half dead with worry and then surprised when he found out it was his friend Joey who inflicted the mark. Mokuba would then ask Seto what he did, blaming him for the whole incident. He would make it out so it appeared to be entirely the Mutt's fault, and Mokuba would just look at him with unbelieving eyes.

Seto opened the door and braced himself for the happy cannon-bolt of black hair to attack his chest. When nothing happened, he blinked in confusion and looked around the extravagant hallway. When nothing still happened after five minutes the eerie silence final got to Seto and he went to search for his little brother. He reassured himself Mokuba was just playing a prank and hiding behind some door.

First he looked in the lounge, then the games room, the other lounge, dining room, upstairs he looked through all the bedrooms (all six of them), his office and then downstairs again he looked in the library before arriving at the final room, the kitchen to find it as empty as the others. By now Seto was officially worried. His mind thinking through every horrible scenario. 'What happened to him? He's got to be safe. Relax Seto he's probably at a friend's house, or Yugi's or someone else's. He can't have been hit by a car, or got in an accident or you would have been called.' Seto tried to reassure himself, managing to worry himself more in the process. 'He can't have been kidnapped…can he? Oh God' Seto, hitting the nail on the head, panicked. 'I need to find him, I need to check. I need to call Rowland and ask him…'

Seto turned round in time to run into Rowland. The broad shouldered bodyguard held Kaiba by the shoulders as he tried to calm the young men. He had known Seto long enough to see that although the 17 year old was calmed and composed on the face of it he was actually in an extreme state of panic. Rowland mentally sighed, what he had to say would not help Kaiba's emotional state.

"Rowland, Rowland where's Mokuba? He's at a friends' house right, right?" Seto gasped, standing in front of the bodyguard, praying that he said yes. Rowland felt a pang of sympathy as he saw Kaiba begging him to say Mokuba was safe at a friend's house. He knew Seto and his little brother were close, one of them just couldn't believe life without the other. Hardening his heart to the sight, he calmly gave his, and the truthful, answer.

"No sir, I'm afraid to say we haven't heard anything from Master Mokuba since he left school. I have checked all his friends' houses and he is not with them." Rowland gulped, Seto had paled. His fair skin going even whiter. Taking his arm he slowly guided Seto to sit in the kitchen chair. Taking another gulp to push down the knot of emotions that were growing there, he delivered the last piece of horrible news. "Just a few minutes ago we received an anonymous call from someone stating that they had Mokuba, and we should comply with them if we want him back." Seto stared at him and stared at him and just to be sure, stared at him some more. The words his bodyguard and friend had said slowly sinking in.

'Mokuba's been kidnapped. Mokuba's gone. Mokuba's been kidnapped. They want stuff, what stuff? They're going to hurt him; they're going to HURT HIM. Mokuba's been kidnapped!

'Mokuba's gone!'

Seto blacked out.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The door to the warehouse slowly and loudly opened, alerting the blonde youth and waking the two kids that occupied it. The older protectively drew the others closer to him with his one good hand. Five men entered the warehouse. From the brief glimpse Joey got out the door it told him that no-one else was out there. The men approached them, looking down they visibly sneered in disgust and malice, as their eyes shone with greed. Joey stared back defiantly. One of the men stepped forward. His presence was greater than the rest and he expelled threat. The man had a small beard, his black hair was well combed, but his twisted smirk gave away his intentions.

The man's eyes looked at each of the three in turn, and then looked at them again. Turning back to his men he addressed them in a voice that was accustomed to being obeyed.

"Who are these?" His hand vaguely gestured to Joey and Serenity "I told you to grab the boy, why have you got someone else here?" He did not raise his voice but the threat of violence still hung in the air. There was a shuffling of feet by the men but they remained silent. "Well…Hyou answer me."

The man on the far left, Hyou, shied back from his boss as he began to answer.

"Welllllllll… we were grabbin' the boy, but he bit Greg, an' called for help before we coul' knock him out. Then this guy came runnin' over" he gestured to Joey, but still continued to speak quickly. "He hit Vince an' almost knocke' out Lyon before runnin' to Greg, but then Vince grabbe' the girl an' threaten' to kill her if he didn't stop. The kid was screaming at them to run, an' he seemed to know them. Ya told us not t' leave a mess so we knoke' out the blonde an' tied up the girl with the kid. The blonde tried something when we got back so we ruffe' him up a bit and broke his arm. We didn't d' anything else 'cause we didn't know what ya wanted, that's why their here boss." During his speech the other men, Vince, Greg and Lyon had grumbled their agreement, the 'Boss' didn't move. A slow smile spread across his face. Joey did not like it.

"Very good Hyou." The man named Hyou sighed. "Kaiba will really squirm when he finds out we have his friends as well" Joey resisted the urge to scoff at the mention of Kaiba having 'friends'. The man reached out a hand; Joey was tempted to attack him but by the look on the other men's faces, that was not a good idea. The 'Boss' roughly took hold of Mokuba by the back of his shirt, yanking him away from the other two sitting forms. Joey growled low in his throat, the one called Vince stepped in front of him. His wide frame blocking Joeys view and providing a solid wall that he could not pass. Serenity whimpered, remembering how the man had gagged and tied her harshly with Mokuba in the back of a van.

Mokuba struggled and kicked but his attempts were wasted as he was hoisted into the air and came face to face with his captor. He cringed when the man sneered.

"Hey kid, awww don't be scared" tears of fright threatened to fall from Mokuba's eyes. "We won't hurt you, well… unless it's necessary." The tears began to run freely down Mokuba's face. "Don't worry about getting into trouble for being late home. We called your brother and told him you would be staying with us for a while. We're just going to use you for a while as we get what we want from Kaiba, so if you're good and quiet we may not need to kill your friends here."

He looked towards the other two captives; Serenity had tears running down his face too, Joey just growled. "You do what I say, when I say. Understand?" He shook the boy in his hands, said boy then began to nod his head violently in understanding. "Good." With that the 'Boss' threw the black haired kid towards the other two captives. Mokuba hit the ground hard, crying out in pain. Vince bent down and slapped him hard in the face.

"Boss told you to be quiet," he shouted to Mokuba as he crawled towards his friends.

"Vince, stay here and make sure the kid understands. We're going out to discuss the plan."

"Yes Boss, I'll make sure he understands" Vince watched as his boss and colleagues left. Turning back to the trio the pleasure he was getting thinking about the cruelty he was going to inflict was clear on his face. Taking a step nearer to Mokuba (who had nearly reached his friends by crawling on the ground) he harshly took hold of the boy's long hair and pulled back on it violently.

Mokuba cried out again as he was pulled back to face his soon to be tormenter. Kneeling on the ground he looked up at the largest man he had ever seen, the tears still falling freely down his cheeks.

"Now kid I'm going to teach you to obey your elders. Like all good twerps should." He drew his plate-sized fist back, savoring the moment before his pray would scream in pain, at his mercy. His brought his fist down with speed, the grin spreading over his face, as Mokuba closed his eyes.

And hit Joey squarely in the face.

Joey fell to the ground, stopping his body from hitting the concrete by using his hands. Turning his face, he moved once again in front of Mokuba and stared squarely at the man. Vince wasn't the smartest of men; his mind took over a minute to figure out what had happened and why his target wasn't screaming on the ground. When he did catch up with reality his face twisted in anger making it even uglier.

The boy he had hit was not screaming in pain, he wasn't even crying. He was staring at him, anger burning brightly in his eyes. Joey could have beaten the man, he could have knocked him out or broken his arm like they had done to him and be running down the nearest street by now, but he didn't, he couldn't. He had to protect Mokuba and Serenity, he might be able to run fast enough but they couldn't. He needed a way to get them out, but until then he would protect them with everything he had.

Vince remembered what the youth he was looking at had done, he had come running to the boys help and kicked him in the stomach so hard he had been doubled up and gasping for air. He could even feel the bruise that had formed. Vince's anger increased.

"How dare you, guess I'll have to teach you a lesson as well" the look that Joey gave him at that sentence made Vince falter. Such burning anger and conviction, it made the youths brown amber eyes hard and threatening. Feeling scared Vince did the only thing he knew how to, he got defensive. "Fine you want to be a hero; you can take the boys punishment instead." Joey mentally sighed, glad that his plan had worked and Mokuba was safe for now. He braced himself for the beating that was about to come.

Vince threw punches at him, hitting him hard and quickly, a few went to his face before he fell to the ground and then the man knelt down to throw punches at Joey's stomach. Grabbing the blondes shaggy mess of hair, Vince smashed him into nearby create. Joey didn't make a sound, not even a whimper. He remembered all the times he had previously been beaten and had slipped into a place where pain didn't existed. The beating continued for a few minutes and ended with the man stepping on his broken arm, causing it to snap again with an audible crack. The two kids were crying out as they watched their brother and friend take a beating to protect them.

Fire burned in his arm straight to Joey's brain, but he ignored it. Vince spat on him before walking off towards the closed warehouse door. He was disappointed and a little bit scared. The blonde kid had taken one of the worst beatings he had ever given out (without using a blade) and he hadn't made a sound. The youth's eyes were still ablaze with determination and the passion of protecting his sister and friend. Vince shuddered, people like that weren't normal and he didn't like it when he couldn't predict his prays reactions.

Opening the door, he found his colleagues in the large car, ready to leave. His Boss was in the very back of the 7 seater talking on the phone, presumably to his own Boss, who had hired him to carry out the job of kidnapping the kid. Lyon was behind the wheel, Hyou and Greg behind him, leaving a seat next to the driver. Vince got in, the Boss nodded to him; he nodded back signalling he had carried out his task. They drove off into the night, leaving their three captives once again in the locked warehouse.

Joey spat the blood out of his mouth after he heard the click of the heavy door locking. Sitting up he felt the sting of the bruises over his body, his arm had gone numb and he could no longer feel or move in at all.

"Brother!" "Joey!" Mokuba and Serenity called out as they rushed to Joey's side. The two kids looked at him with worried eyes and tearstained faces. Kneeling down by Joey, they were hesitant to embrace him in case they caused him any more pain. Joey gave them one of his million-dollar smiles. Relaxing them slightly.

"Yeah I'm fine. It looks worse than it feels." His tone was light and not even the most doubtful person would have suspected the worries and plans that were swimming around in his head. "Are ya ok Mokuba? He didn't hit ya t' hard" serious for a moment Joey turned his attention to the young Kaiba. A big bruise was forming on his face. Reminding Joey of what he had done to his elder brother earlier that day at school. The tall brunettes' words had struck a buried cord in Joey's memory, causing him to strike out blindly and walk away feeling ashamed of his actions. The whole incident felt like a lifetime ago.

"I'm fine; you should worry about your self." A short time passed.

"Brother I'm thirsty? It's cold too" Serenity softly asked her brother. They were back under the blanket but the warehouse seemed to get colder by the second.

"I'm sorry Serenity. I don't hav' anything on me. Hav' this." Joey shrugged of his green jacket and draped it over the small girl.

"But you'll freeze."

"Nah, I'll be fine" he assured her.

"What if we don't get anything to eat? What if they let us starve?" The girl suddenly cried, sounding almost hysterical. Scaring her brother and the boy next to her.

"They won't, they won't. They need us alive t' get what they want from Kaiba, so they won't let us die." 'And I'll make sure they don't hurt you either' Joey added to himself "Now you and Mokuba should go to sleep." Joey stated in a tone that meant he would hear no arguments. Beginning to hum softly, the two children closed their eyes and gently drifted to sleep.

Joey did not sleep however. He was planning on how to get the two kids out. A plan that had so many loopholes and so many risks it was almost suicidal, especially for him. But it was a plan and would mean Mokuba and Serenity would be safe, so he was going to try. For outside of the warehouse, close to the door, he had seen a manhole cover.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

Seto Kaiba woke up on the soft couch in one of many living rooms in his mansion. His mind was foggy from the return to consciousness. It was sharp though and his memory soon returned with only one thought 'find Mokuba'.

"Rowland, ROWLAND" Kaiba called as he stood up from the couch and started to make his way towards the door. The bodyguard entered the room.

"Sir..."

"Have you found Mokuba, you better have started looking? Have the kidnapers made contact again? Have you traced them?" The CEO continued to rant off questions until Rowland interrupted him.

"No, we have not found Mokuba. We have started a sweep and contacted people to see if they have seen him; the police have also been notified and are beginning to help, though we don't expect much. Were doing a systematic sweep for witnesses, but haven't got anything so far." He led the young brunette to the room that he and his team had turned into their base of operations. "We traced the first call but it lead to a public pay phone, and we checked the area and asked if people had seen someone calling but got nothing. Mokuba could still be anywhere. The captors haven't contacted again…yet."

Seto's sense of dread had grown with every piece of bad news his right hand man had given him. Pinching the bridge of his nose in the doorway to the control room, he suppressed his instinct to cry hysterically, putting on his normal ice cold mask.

"So what you are saying is that we have no idea where Mokuba is, when he was kidnapped or who has him." Rowland remained tactfully silent. "Right, keep up the search for witnesses, when they contact us again trace the call and get voice recognition and back ground noise check. The next time they call I want to talk to them myself; no one kidnaps my brother and gets away with it." Seto was vaguely aware that his threat was not especially witty or intelligent, but he was too worried to think much about it.

"Yes sir" Rowland replied, walking over to his team of men that were monitoring the computers, and telling them the new orders, checking to see if there was any progress. Seto sat down, his emotionless mask giving no outward signs of the inner turmoil that was raging within him. 'Be safe Mokuba, please be safe. Please…" anyone who had meet the young CEO briefly would never have imagined him saying please or begging like a lost child. Those who knew him well however would not be surprised by his internal thoughts. The brunette did care greatly for the people that were close to him, and no one was closer to the elder Kaiba than his baby brother.

"Sir" Rowland was distracted, taking his attention off the tracing equipment he was monitoring, as one of his men came and addressed him speaking in a low voice. Getting up, Rowland approached the poker face brunette sitting in the corner of the room.

"Kaiba sir, we have found some witnesses to Mokuba's kidnapping." Seto was immediately interested. "The witness was the owner of a small café; she said she was closing up when a large van drove past. She thought nothing of it, until she heard a cry for help. Looking form her upstairs window she said she saw a small struggle. One of the people she saw being put in the van was a young child with long dark hair." Seto's heart dropped at what he imagined poor Mokuba had to go through. He looked away from Rowland, contemplating the news. The bodyguard looked at the young CEO, he had known the Kaiba brothers since their child hood and felt a strong connection to the boys. The news of Mokuba's kidnapping was devastating to him but Rowland was a professional so he didn't show his concerns. Instead he reported everything he knew to the brunette.

"Sir, the witness also said that she saw two other people put in the van with Mokuba." Seto retuned his attention to the bodyguard.

"What, why?"

"Well apparently they had come when Mokuba had called for help. She didn't get a good look at them but one looked about the same age as Mokuba, judging by the height she described, while the other was older and had blonde hair."

"So now they not only have Mokuba but two other people, this is bad. There'll be more publicity if media find out more people have gone missing. That could hinder our investigation if the tabloid begin to print every discovery we make." Closing his eyes for a moment, Seto settled into silent thought.

Rowland thought this to be a good time to continue. "The van headed south sir, into Dominos more rundown district. If I may, I think this to be a ploy from one of your business partners. They probably employed people so that they were hard to trace, it's not likely just anyone would risk getting caught by you without any outside motivation."

Seto had thought of this possibility but hearing it from Rowland caused the suspicion he had to grow

"I thought of that too, get tabs on any my main business competitors and inspect anyone I have made sufficiently angry in the past 6 months. I want a thorough sweep and inspection. Look at their finances, hack into their contacts if you must, I want a lead on who ordered Mokuba's kidnapping and I want it yesterday, understand?" His voice had not risen but anyone with a brain could feel the increase in raw anger that was coming from the CEO. "It doesn't help us find Mokuba now though; they could have still taken him anywhere. Heading south and then circling back around."

"I understand sir, and will get people to begin investigating likely business suspects. But I do find it highly unlikely that the culprits circled back around." Seto looked up from his position sitting in the chair, raising an eyebrow questionably at the man before him. Silently asking why he found need to doubt his explanation. "From what we can tell the culprits weren't expecting anyone to come to Mokuba's rescue and were forced to kidnap them too. It is also likely then, that they weren't expecting anyone to see what they were doing. So they most likely took the most direct route to wherever they're holding them, in case anyone else came to inspect when they heard the fight." Rowland concluded.

Seto paused for a moment, blinked once and then nodded. "Yes that sounds logical. It narrows down the search, but there's still a lot of ground to cover." Pinching the bridge of his nose again, Seto returned to thought.

As he and Rowland had been talking, the rest of the men had been going about their business. Working as hard as they possible could despite the lake of leads. Another half an hour passed in this manner with people looking at computer screens, calling contacts and giving reports to Rowland on a regular basis. No one talked to Seto, as he remained silent in his personal corner of the room, settling further into his chair. Staring with a harsh glare at the phone he had ordered to be placed on the opposite table in his sight. He continued to glare daggers, his frown deepening as the stress lines began to show on his forehead and around his eyes.

RING, RING…RING, RING…

All heads turned to the phone.

RING, RING…RING, RING…

Seto turned to Rowland, who was holding an earpiece that was connected to the phone. Seeing Seto's questioning glance, he checked everything was ready and nodded once. At Rowland's signal that everything was ready Seto reached towards the phone. Picking it up, he looked as calm and composed as ever, only he could feel the sweat running down the back of his neck and the small trembling of his body.

"Hello, who is this?" His voice was level, but his palms grew sweaty and his grip on the receiver tightened as he awaited an answer. Rowland and his team were listening closely, already tracking form where the phone call was coming from.

"Hello Kaiba, I think you've been expecting me." The voice was smooth, there was no accent, but it had a sharp edge to it, promising danger if the speakers temper was pushed too far. "I'm the one that is currently looking after your little brother, Mokuba." At the sound of his brothers' name, Seto jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed to slits. Such an obvious show of anger on the normally expressionless CEO scared some of the toughest men in the room. If looks could kill they would have heard the sound of the man on the other end of the phone drop dead.

"Why you!" Seto hand began to visibly shake, Rowland was slightly afraid the phone would break. Looking to his men, he checked to see if they had traced the call yet, a small shake, and a turning of a hand indicated they needed a little more time.

"Now, now, calm down Kaiba. We wouldn't want anything to happen to the little squirt now would we?" The voice continued, un-phased by Kaiba's outburst.

"If you hurt him, I swear…"

"Don't worry he's not hurt, well…not yet. But I can't say the same for his blonde friend. The boy really shouldn't have pissed off Vince like he did, and well…Vince got a little carried away. The girls all right for the moment too, but if you want your brother and his friends back safely I suggest you listen to my demands. My Boss was very specific on what he wanted."

The mention of one of the other captives getting hurt worried Seto. What worried him more though is that he had called them his friends. This meant they knew Mokuba and if they knew Mokuba then he would know them, or know of them. Things were just getting worse.

Rowland saw a man give the thumbs up, and call one of the operatives in the area near where the phone call was made. The nearest person was still a couple of miles away, so they still needed more time.

"How do I know if you've got Mokuba, you could be lying through your teeth?" Seto refused to voice the possibility that Mokuba could already be dead. Doing that would make the suspicion true.

"Fine, you want proof, I'll let you talk to him but remember one wrong word and the kid gets hurt." The smoothness in the voice had gone, turning into a hiss of suppressed rage at Kaiba's doubts. There was a distance "hay Greg, get the kid, his bro wants to talk." A pause, "I know the Boss said not to let them but what else am I going to do, just make sure to warn the kid properly about saying anything he shouldn't" a small scuffle followed. Then Seto heard the best thing he had all day, he heard his brothers voice.

"Seto. Seto. Seto." Mokuba was sniffling like he had been crying recently. His voice breaking slightly in happiness at being able to talk to his older brother.

"Mokuba! Mokuba are you alright? What happened? Where are you?" Seto had abandoned all hope of keeping his emotions under control. Seeing the ice prince mask slip, the other men could see just how much Mokuba meant to his brother. The CEO probably couldn't cope if Mokuba were to die. Rowland made a silent vow to get Mokuba back, whatever it took.

"I'm fine Seto, I don't know where I am. It so good to talk to you, please get us out of here." A distant "not likely kid" made Seto's blood boil. "They were going to hurt me but Joey took the beating instead." Mokuba continued.

"Wait, Wheeler? What's Wheeler doing there?" Kaiba was generally confused and now even more worried, if that was possible. 'Why is Wheeler there, and what does he mean take a beating? What if he gets hurt to bad, what if he gets killed? Oh god no. He can't get killed. What will I tell his friends, what will they do? What will I do?

"Seto, Seto, SETO."

"Yes Mokuba, I'm still here. Why is Wheeler there anyway, is there anyone else with you?"

"When I called for help Joey came, but they caught Serenity and threatened to harm her. So Joey stopped fighting. They knocked him out and tied Serenity and me up so now we're all here. You've got to find us; you've got to get Serenity and Joey out. Please, please, please." Mokuba's voice had dropped to a whisper as he pleaded for his friends rescue. Kaiba felt a sudden surge of pride for his little brother. He was stuck in some strange place, suffering bad treatment, with dangerous men and he was still thinking of his friends' safety first.

"I'll try Mokuba, I'll try." He was going to continue, but his brother was no longer at the phone.

"Well Kaiba you've got your proof that your brother here. Now listen closely I'm going to call again with demands from my Boss, ok"

"What do you want?" The rage in Seto rising again "money, royalties, property what do you want? I'll give it to you." He would do anything for his little brother and even help the Mutt. Despite insulting Joey he did not hate him and he did not wish to see the other teen harmed.

"Now, now Kaiba. Don't get ahead of yourself; my Boss has bigger ambitions than that. I'll call you later with his first demand, and how he is going to contact you. So just be patient. Talk to you later Kaiba"

"What do you…" the phone went dead. Rowland looked to his men, he shook his head. Damn they hadn't made it. There contact was still a mile away.

"Tell him to keep heading to the place. He'll probably find another pay phone, tell him to search the area as best he can, and get a team down there straight away." Rowland ordered his men. With their orders given they moved to carry them out as quickly as possible. They were after all the best of the best.

Kaiba stared at the dead phone for a minute, before placing it back down. Turning to his team he too began to give orders.

"See if you can get voice recognition or any giveaway background noise. Check for tyre prints. If they used a payphone they will need to make a quick getaway, they'll probably leave prints. Check for shoe prints as well, witnesses too. I want everything." People moved even faster to carry out his demands. Seto paused to compose himself, his poker face returning and hiding his emotions once again. He walked over to a computer screen and began to listen to the recording over again. Looking for anything that might help find his brother.

Greg tied up the kid once again, put him in the van and got behind the wheel. His Boss made a quick call to tell his Boss that he had contacted Kaiba before getting in the other side of the van. Nodding once, Greg started the engine and began driving back to the warehouse. In the back, Mokuba once again began to cry, his brothers' voice echoing in his mind.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Joey knew how he could get the kids back to safety. He knew a way to get them out with enough time to run so they would not be caught again. He just didn't know how to get them out of the warehouse. They had returned Mokuba a little while ago and given them a small amount of water and some bread. Joey had been terrified when they took the young boy, he couldn't stop anything bad form happening to him but he had warned Mokuba to do whatever the men wanted. Joey was relieved when he returned with no injuries. Once the men had left he had briefly told him and Serenity about his talk to Seto, and what the men had said.

'Why didn't they give Kaiba their demands straight away? They probably want to make him sweat a bit and see how much they can get; I have to get these guys out.'

Right now the three were eating their bread in silence, the kids wolfing down the food. Surprisingly, Joey ate his much more slowly, concentrating too much to think about just how long it had been since his last meal. They had been in the warehouse for almost 10 hours. Being captured at four and it now being late at night, or early in the morning, depending on how you wanted to look at it.

"Hey guys, ya see that?" Joey interrupted the silence, pointing at a window, to high up to reach and too small to climb through.

"Yeah I see it now, I didn't notice it before because it's so dirty" replied Mokuba "so what about it, it's too small to get through."

"He's right brother, I couldn't even get through that."

"I don't want t' get through it; I know it's too small. I just want to see what's outside." Joey informed the two curious kids "I don't think the men will be comin' back for a few hours so help me move some crates, so I can stand an' look ou' the window. I'd do it myself but I can't use my arm." Serenity looked to her brothers' arm. It hung limp at his side, unmoving. She told herself that she could not see the skin being stretched in an unnatural place. That she could not tell that the bone was pushing out at an unnatural angle inside her brother. Bile rose in her throat and she had to swallow several times to get rid of it. Her brother didn't need any more problems, like worrying she was getting sick.

Nodding their assent that they could carry out the task given to them Mokuba and Serenity stood, followed by Joey and began to move some of the bigger crates.

It was harder than Joey first thought. They chose the tallest crate they could feasibly move, the two kids strained, pushing with their arms out stretched while Joey did the same with his back, his bruises growing worse with the effort. When they had finally got it against the wall they still needed more than Joeys whole body length in height to reach the window.

The next crate was the hardest. Choosing a smaller one they pushed it to stand against the first. Lifting with all their might the two eleven year olds managed to lift it just enough for Joey to get his shoulders underneath and push it the rest of the way. Exhausted, he sent Mokuba and Serenity to see if they could find an empty crate, to give them the last bit of height they needed.

Joey was weak from pain, his back shuddering from the waves of fire that cascaded down its length. Mokuba returned quickly. He and serenity couldn't find an empty crate but he informed Joey that there was one slightly open that they could empty out. Reaching the box, Joey soon removed the lid from its rusty nails. With Serenity and Mokuba's help it was quickly and swiftly emptied of its contents. None of the three checked the contents that was conceled beneath the straw.

Easy to lift, they used it to complete their box tower to the window. More than an hour had passed and the pre-dawn glow was begging to grow on the sky.

The window was stiff, but a few good hits from Joey's good arm soon shifted it from the rotten frame. The blondes head barley fit through, but standing on the crates he could at last see outside.

He did not recognize the street at first glance, but Joey's mental map of the alleys and road of downtown Domino city soon placed where he and the others were. Satisfied he had found out what he wanted and just how far Mokuba and Serenity would need to go, he glanced down at the warehouse door.

It was old and heavy. The manhole cover, their means of escape, lay only two feet beyond. Even in the gloom Joey could see that the cover would lift and had not been sealed down. The air was chilly on his face, blowing his hair every which-way. With a sickening feeling he thought of how his friends would be worried for him, how he wished to tell them that he was okay and plotting to get them out.

Joey had one thing stopping from getting the kids out and fulfilling his promise, the door. He needed a way to get it open, but he doubted the men would just give him the key if he asked politely. He needed a way to brake the lock, or stop it from being locked. Looking down into the depths of the warehouse again, he saw the two worried faces looking back up. Jumping down with grace people would not have believed Joey to posses, he joined them on the floor. Tacking the empty crate off the tower in case the kidnappers grew suspicious and punish them on their next inevitable visit.

"Brother?" questioned his sister once Joey had returned to them. Serenity was curious about her brother's strange behaviour. She would trust him to the ends of the earth, but sometimes it seemed like he wasn't all there, or wasn't the complete goof-ball that she knew so well. Sometimes her brother was like a different person, serious, quick thinking, and…dangerous. It wasn't anything he said, he didn't make threats or harm them, it was just the way he moved. Not scuffing his feet on the ground like normal, but gracefully with calculated movements and a hardness in his eyes seemed to make him a bit more deadly than the happy go lucky blonde should be. Mokuba had noticed this too but remained quiet, he thought Joey was his friend but on reflection he really didn't know much about him, so he opted to stay silent.

Ruffling his sisters' long flaming hair, Joey gave half a smile to reassure Serenity everything was alright. She was still buzzing with curiosity but knew she would get nothing from her brother until he wanted to tell her himself.

"Hey guys, thanks for the help. God it's cold. Why don't you two go an' lie down, get a few hours sleep. I'll join ya in a minute, 'k?" When the eleven year olds nodded and returned to their corner to sleep, Joey headed over to the door. He had not approached it so far as he had been busy reassuring Mokuba and Serenity and protecting them from their captors to give it an inspection. Just as he suspected, the door was mad of a heavy well built wood. Too heavy to kick through, and the hinges to well managed to brake. Inspecting the lock he found that it was well kept and strong. This left him with three options:

1) Fight his way past the men on their next visit and get the kids out - bad, at least one of them could get injured and it's unlikely they would escape. Punishment afterwards would be definite.

2) Find a way to open the lock (picking it, or snatching the key) - still bad, it's not likely he could take the key without being noticed. It would also mean he would have to get close to one of the men, which was not appealing. There was nothing he could use to pick the lock and he doubted he could even if he did have the equipment. They would punch him up again if they found out.

3) Find a way to stop it locking - better, but difficult. The men would not be able to tell and they would not need to fight, giving them plenty of time to get away. The only question was how to do it?

Joey fought with the dilemma as he returned to sit with Mokuba and Serenity. He knew they should sleep but he doubted any of them would. He was infuriated to find his thinking coming to the same dead-end with no solution. _How could he open the door?_

The sun was beginning to rise, signalling a new day. The three people in the warehouse did not know this. They were still left in darkness, cold with fear. As the day drew on and the men did not return, the two eleven year olds feel asleep as the warehouse warmed up with the heat of the day. Joey dozed as well, always half awake incase the men came back. His mind still searching for an answer.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

Seto was going mad with worry. The sun had just risen and they still hadn't got anything. The tyre prints they found at the phone box could belong on several thousand vans that are driven in Domino City. There were no footprints, the voice recognition got them nowhere and they still couldn't find any other leads on where Mokuba and the Wheeler siblings might be. After cross examining his rivals and enemies in business, Seto found that there could be almost fifty suspects and more than a hundred motives. Worst of all, he would soon have to phone Yugi and the rest of his gang telling them what had happened.

That would result in an outrage by the group, tears, threats, more tears and a whole lot more emotional friendship crap than he could take at the moment. Resigning to get it over with, Seto strode from the control room and moved to the phone stationed in a nearby lounge so he could make the call in relative silence and comfort. Settling down, and picking up the phone he dialled the number that he had memorized off Mokuba.

"Hello, Turtle Game Shop, who's-_yawn-_calling" Yugi's voice answered, obviously not fully awake yet.

"Yugi, it's Kaiba." Began Seto.

"Kaiba! Why are you calling?" Yugi, now worried by the strange call, was fully awake.

"Look I need to tell you something, you might want to wake Yami, he'll want to hear this too." Seto continued feeling the headache he had getting worse. 'Damn I need some aspirin.'

Yugi went upstairs taking the phone with him, entering his room he went over to Yami's bed to wake him.

"Yami, wake up" Yami turned over, mumbling inaudibly. He was not a morning person. "I know it's early but Kaiba's calling and before you ask, I don't know what for, but he said you would want to listen." Yami reluctantly got up. As curious as Yugi was to what the CEO, that had gone so far to avoid them in the past, could suddenly want.

"Yugi, you still there?" Seto's voice could be heard from the receiver.

"Yeah Kaiba I'm still here, Yami's up, what do you want to say." Yami drew his head closer to hear the conversation.

"Ok, don't interrupt till I'm finished…" there was a pause as Seto took a deep breath ready to tell everything that had happened, before he let his emotions take over and brake down. "…there was a kidnapping attempt on Mokuba yesterday. Unfortunately the attempt was a success. He is being held by unknown people and they have called to say that I should comply with their demands. The reason I'm telling you this is not so you can help but because…Wheeler was in the area when Mokuba was kidnapped and he and his sister Serenity were also taken when they tried to help Mokuba. They are now being held along with him." Seto finished, feeling relief for telling them and also dread for what was sure to come. Yugi and Yami were in shock on the other end of the line.

"Wh-what..." was all Yugi could manage to get out in his dazed state. This annoyed Seto. His nerves were already stretched dangerously thin and a useless question like 'what' was not one he had the patience to answer.

"I just told you, Mokuba, the Mutt and the Mutts sister have been KIDNAPPED and we DON'T KNOW where they are." Shouted Seto down the line. His emotions all coming out in a torrent of anger at the unsuspecting Yugi.

Yugi's reaction to Seto's outburst was to drop the phone in shock, the worry about his three friends' safety settling in. Heaving from his outburst Seto pinched the bridge of his nose again to try and stop the pain in his head and calm his emotions. Shouting at Yugi wouldn't help his little brother.

"Kaiba?" it was Yami's deep voice and not Yugi's that he heard through the phone. "If this is true…"

"It is." Seto interrupted.

"Do you have any idea where they are or who has taken them? You must have something? All that security you've got has to account for something?" Yami continued his voice calm. Yugi still hadn't moved from the shock of hearing what had happened to his best friend. Putting a hand around the smaller teens head, Yami drew Yugi to his chest in an effort to comfort him and so he could continue to listen to the conversation.

"We got a witness telling us they headed to the south of downtown Domino, but that doesn't give us much. They still haven't issued demands but they said they would contact again. We think the kidnapping was set up by a business competitor of mine, but were not a hundred percent sure and we have no idea who. Other than that, we have no other leads."

"I see" worry was now obvious in Yami's voice. Yugi had come out of shock and was now clinging to his shirt while tears began running down his cheeks.

"…"

"Listen Kaiba, could Yugi and I come over to your house? I would like to be there to see if anything comes up. Don't say no because I'll come anyway. This is as much our business as it is yours. Mokuba is our friend to, as well as Joey and his sister." Yami voice was full of conviction, instantly telling Seto that he would carry through with his threat of coming no matter what the CEO said.

"That would be fine, come as quickly as you can."

"Good, we'll contact the rest from your house" Seto was about to object, but Yami continued "don't argue Kaiba. If we contact them we can persuade them to leave it to us and not come to your house straight away. We'll be there soon." With that said Yami hung-up. He and Yugi changed from their pajamas as fast as possible, told 'Grandpa' they were going out and began to run to Kaiba's house.

Seto stared at a phone for the second time that day. Putting it back on the receiver, he stood up and decided that he _really_ needed some aspirin. Looking down at his clothes he also decided that he could do with a hot shower to calm his nerves and a change of clothes.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was now well into the morning. Joey had a suspicion that their captors would not be returning till night time, which left him with a lot of time to fill. Mokuba and Serenity had fallen asleep, the long day had taken a toll on them and with the warmth of the morning sun they had ever so slowly drifted off into a deep slumber. This meant Joey was sitting near them and worrying all by himself. He didn't think he could get through the door, but he wasn't going to give up hope that he couldn't get the kids out without getting them hurt. To ease the boredom and to stop himself going insane by sitting still, he got up and decided to explore the rest of the warehouse. '_When you don't know what to do, move.'_ had always been a saying that applied strongly to Joey and he had no reason to doubt that logic now. Staying quiet, so he didn't wake the two eleven year olds, he began to explore the warehouse. Most of the crates were large, but some were small like the one they had emptied out. None of them could be opened in his condition with only one working arm, or without a crowbar.

Curious now as to what the crates might contain he looked over to where they had left the contents of the empty crate. The straw was still in an untied pile, pushed into one edge of the room. Taking it in his hand, Joey shook it to discover its contents. For large bags fell to the floor. Each packed with white powder. Still curious, Joey set to opening one of the bags. When he did manage to create a small opening in one of the bags, he licked and dipped his finger into the fine powder. Bringing it to his nose, he sniffed it.

A small wave of dizziness and a strong vile smell hit the back of Joey's throat. Joey cursed under his breath as he realised the crates contained drugs. Joey felt sick with the thought of his sister and Mokuba blissfully asleep between the vile stuff. Whipping his finger on his jeans, he lifted out all of the bags and looked for a place he could hide them. Walking over to some crates far away from the door with the intention of pushing them forward and placing the bags behind them, he sent off across the warehouse.

Putting the bags down, he looked over to make sure he had not woken the two kids. Seeing them still asleep he began to push the crates slightly forward, keeping an eye on the sleeping figures to make sure he didn't wake them up with his activities. Joey had moved the crates and was about to bend down to put the bags behind them, when he noticed something. The wall was damp. The wood was giving off a rotting smell from a small damp patch near the floor; a large splinter of wood had also been pulled away from that part of the wall.

Experimentally, Joey reached out and pulled hard on the piece of wood. It came off with little resistance, leaving a scar on the dark wall of the warehouse. A sudden surge of hope washed through Joey. Standing up and pushing the crate further away from the wall, he forgot all about the sleeping figures on the other side of the room and kicked hard on the damp wood. Mokuba and serenity awoke in fright at the sound. The confusion evident on their faces when they could not see the source of the noise. Another bang echoed throughout the warehouse, causing the kids to jump up in fright again. Standing up they moved round the crates to find out what had awoken them. What they saw was Joey kicking desperately at the wall.

Curiously, and with caution in case the blonde had gone mad, they moved slowly towards him. When they were only a few feet away Joey began to kick the wall with new and more frantic enthusiasm. Truly fearing for her brothers sanity, Serenity decided to speak up.

"Joey. Joey. JOEY." She cried her voice a lot louder and louder, leading Mokuba to start nursing a sore ear. Turning, the blonde greeted both of them with a wide grin spread across his face. Fully acting out his goof-ball roll, all the previous signs of danger or change in his character were gone with the mad hope of escape.

"Serenity! Mokuba! Perfect, help me with this." With that he returned to kicking franticly at the wall. His excitement growing as the wood had begun to splinter.

Serenity looked to Mokuba, Mokuba looked to Serenity. Both agreed they had no idea what was going on. Mokuba and Serenity looked to Joey.

"Err, Joey?" began Mokuba, feeling it was his turn to try and get some sense out of the blonde. "What are you doing? Why are you kicking the wall? ...Are you insane?" Mokuba added as an afterthought. This received an elbow in the ribs from Serenity. Joey answered without stopping or turning to them.

"This wall is damp, I'm kickin' it so that it comes apart, it could help us get ou'. Now come an' help me pull apart the wood, I don't hav' both hands t' use an' my bruises are beginning' t' hurt." Stopping kicking and fully rounding on Mokuba, Joey answered the boy's last question "an' no, I am not insane. Now help me."

The two eleven year olds decided it was in their best interest to do what the youth said, especially if it meant a way out. Telling Joey to stop kicking, they moved to the wall and did indeed see that it was damp and splintering badly from the violent onslaught. Pulling away the splinters Serenity could see a small crack of daylight from the outside world. All of them now had hope for their escape as Mokuba and Serenity pulled away the splinters and Joey continued to kick the wood with extreme force.

XXX

Yugi and Yami made it to Kaiba's house in record time. They were greeted at the door by a freshly washed Seto, his hair still damp from the shower. They didn't bother with formalities and Seto lead them directly into the lounge he had contacted them from. As soon as they were seated Yugi wasted no time in asking about Joey.

"Do you know if Joe's alright? Have they contacted you again? When did they contact you? When were they taken? Can I phone the others? Can I…" the question came out in one big desperate breath. Yugi breathing became laboured in his hysteria, until Yami decided to comfort him. Afraid that the teen was now beginning to hyperventilate. Grabbing him by both of his shoulders and turning Yugi to face him he attempted to calm the small 16 year old.

"Shhh…calm down Yugi. Take a deep breath. Joeys tough he'll be alright. Now calm down and let me ask the questions, ok" Kaiba watched as Yugi stopped breathing so rapidly and sat back down on the couch with Yami holding him close.

"Now, Kaiba. Is Joey alright?" Yami asked, his scarlet eyes staring straight into Seto's ice blue orbs.

"I don't know…Mokuba told me that one of the men beat him up when he protected him, other than that I really don't know anything. The men said that Serenity and Mokuba hadn't been hurt, but they could be lying." The CEO answered. Yami eyes darkened with worry, while Yugi moved further into his embrace.

"You said they contacted you?"

"Yes, twice. The first time one of my employees picked it up. Nothing was said other than they had Mokuba and would contact again. The second time I answered it. We don't know where they are, we found out where they called form but both times it was from a pay phone so there are no leads there." Seto said, fully showing the exhaustion in his own voice and the worry laced within it. He was tired and he didn't mind showing it. There was no need for him to keep up the mask of 'emotionless cold-hearted business men' in a crisis like this.

Yami and Yugi were quiet after this, seeing no need to speak. Yami rocked his smaller counterpart and Seto, in silence, thought once more about his brother.

"Seto..." the voice was quiet and light coming from the boy in Yami's arms. Seto looked up at the use of his first name, but saw no need to correct the small teen in the current situation. "Can I phone the rest of the gang? I think they should know. I'll try to stop them from coming here, but they can tell the school that we won't be able to come in." Yugi pulled away from Yami and moved towards the phone.

"Yes. Call them, I don't want them hear though, not right now. Tell them to tell the school I'm at a meeting and to make up and excuse for you and Wheeler. I don't want the media to find out about this. You can tell your friends but tell them not to breathe a word." Kaiba replied as he stood to exit the room. Yugi nodded in understanding and began to dial the first number.

"Thank you Kaiba for telling us of this." Seto looked to Yami in surprise.

"Of course I would tell you, I'm not so cold hearted as to not tell you when someone you know has had something like _this_ happen to them, no matter what you may think."

"Yes, I know. I was just saying, sorry if I insulted you…"

"Come with me to the control room. You can listen to the conversation I had with Mokuba if you want. See if you can spot something we didn't."

With that Seto left the room, not caring weather Yami followed or not. Yami looked to Yugi and seeing him nod in agreement that he was alright, followed Kaiba into the makeshift control room. Yami and then latter, Yugi, listened to the recording of Mokuba and Kaiba's conversation but neither of them found anything usefull. Yugi convinced the others not to come to Kaiba's mansion till after school. The rest of the day was spent checking, rechecking and hypothesizing where their friends and Kaiba's brother could be. The end of school came around and still no one called. The others from Yugi's group arrived and were brought up to speed with the situation. When it started to get dark, Yami, Yugi and the rest left to go to their respective homes and worry for their friend's safety by themselves.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It was just after midday and the sun was beating down on Domino City, depression had settled over three captives sitting together in a warehouse, staring at a hole in the wall that none of them could quite fit through. The hole was not large, but one could think it big enough to allow a small child through. Unfortunately for the captives, Mokuba and Serenity were just a bit too big. If they were to squeeze through the gap their backs and arms would be shredded by the arrangement of jagged splinters that framed their helpless means of escape.

Joey, however, had not given up. Taking the two kids he discussed the beginning of the new plan he had begun thinking of.

It was dark in Domino, another day of school and work had come and gone. Anyone that wanted to get up before midday tomorrow had long since gone to bed. Joey listened out for the sound of a car. He had been listening for more than an hour now but his concentration had not faltered in all that time. This detail of the plan was minuet, but could mean the success to their escape.

A car engine was herd, distant at first. Joey listened as the engine noise grew louder. When he was certain that the car was heading for the secluded warehouse, Joey turned to the jagged hole his body was covering. Unrolling the ripped sleeves of his shirt, he exposed the underside of his arm to the darkness. Clenching his jaw, he took the smooth skin of his own body and placed it to the wooden splinters. Pressing lightly into the wood, he drew his arm across the dagger like wall. Drawing blood. He spread some across the hole, whilst most dripped to the floor. Taking the piece of shirt he had ripped off before hand, he quickly swathed his bleeding flesh in the cold cotton.

The engine noise stopped, the sound of car doors opening was heard. Joey ran noiselessly and with non-Joey-like grace to an empty crate on the other side of the warehouse. Lifting the lid he climbed in, avoiding the other two bodies that were pressed together into the side of the crate. Closing the lid atop him without a sound, Joey held his breath as their captors entered the warehouse.

Mokuba and Serenity to held their breaths also as they heard the click of the lock. Not daring to move in case they were heard. Mokuba ran the instructions Joey had given him through his mind. He had been doing the same for most of the afternoon, making sure he wouldn't forget.

Five men entered an empty warehouse. The room was silent. Nothing moved or stirred in the darkness. They all looked around; searching for the three people they had expected to find in the shadows of the room.

There was no-one. With confusion and slight fear, they turned to their boss for orders. The 'Boss', seeing the empty warehouse, immediately panicked but calmed himself, not wishing to show weakness.

"They must be hiding, search the warehouse. Their probably curled up in a corner somewhere in fear." He stated. The four men he had commanded spread out. Clenching their fists or taking out a knife as they moved into the shadows. Joey waited.

Serenity found it horrible listening to the men but not being able to see them. It reminded her of when she was blind. How utterly defenceless she was then. Her mind was racing with the thoughts of one of their captors finding them, trapped helplessly in this box. Serenity could imagine them beating her brother again, beating Mokuba and beating _her_ for thinking they could escape.

The 'Boss' waited. Concerned that his men had not come back holding the screaming forms of his captives. His own head would roll if they couldn't find them.

"SIR!" one of the men, Hyou, called out. "Come quick!"

"What?" the 'Boss' asked as he and the rest of his men ran over to their colleague.

"That." Stated Hyou, pointing. The 'Boss' looked and the fear he had been feeling became full scale panic.

There, in the wall, was a hole. Jagged splinters surrounded it and a scrap if white cloth was caught in the menacing teeth. Blood dripped from the shadowed wood. The red liquid dripping into a puddle on the floor. If he and the rest of his men had not been panicking about losing their captives (and their paychecks) they might have noticed that the hole was far too small for Joey or the kids to squeeze through. However, they _were_ in panic and so did not see this fact, fully believing that the youth and two children had escaped into the night.

"The bloods still fresh." Stated Lyon. The 'Boss', realizing the implications of this, began to shout commands.

"That means they must have escaped recently. They can't have got far; their backs would be shredded from the wood and their on foot. Everyone in the car and round the back, we've got to find them. NOW!" Turning on his heal, he and the rest of the men, sprinted out the warehouse and into the car they had arrived in. Turning on the engine, they began to race down the street.

Hearing the men leaving, Joey listened to the car doors slamming and the screeching of wheels on tarmac before raising the lid off the create and climbing out stealthily. He moved his burning, broken arm into a more comfortable position to ease the pain that had griped him again. Joey helped the other two out of the box before running to the door.

The sound of the car was distant now but he still cautiously put his head round the door, just in time to see the red rear lights disappear around the corner. Motioning for Mokuba and Serenity he ran out into the street and to the manhole cover, the two kids trailing quickly behind him. Positioning himself above the manhole he used his one good hand to grab what would be used as a handle on the iron circle. Lifting, the bruises on his shoulder protested greatly as the entrance to the main underground sewers were revealed. Showing a ladder and a thin walkway before melting into darkness.

"Mokuba, you remember what I told you?" He asked, his voice still a whisper in the night. The ebony haired boy nodded his head. "Good. Serenity, go first, then you Mokuba. Quickly!"

As Serenity moved to the entrance and almost slid down the wet gritty ladder with Mokuba following behind, Joey silently thanked the fact he had worked as an inspector for the sewers shortly to pay his rent. The knowledge of the place he had found disgustingly horrible was saving them now.

"Don't forget, I know it's horrid, but keep you hand on the side and count the ladders." Joey was going to continue but he heard something. The faint sound of a car engine and screaming tyres. Oh, God no. They were coming back.

Mokuba looked up at Joey once his feet touched the underground concrete, expecting the blonde to follow. What he saw was Joey staring of into the distance, mouthing the word 'No' with terror clearly showing in his eyes. Mokuba, now scared, was going to ask something but Joey beat him to it. Facing down, Joey's eyes burned with the fire of determination as he said only one thing to Mokuba.

"Keep Serenity safe." He then looked to Serenity, who too now feared for what was happening beyond her sight. "Love you sis."

Joey replaced the cover before either had a chance to respond. Running as fast as he could he crossed the street, just as the car came into view in front of him. Why had they come back? They must have figured it out? Whatever the reason, the captors had decided to return to the entrance of the warehouse and one thing was certain. Joey was in _deep_ trouble.

Lyon caught a flash of gold as Joey began to run desperately down an ally. The other men saw it to and coming up to the alleyway they stopped the car and got out to give chase. Joey ran, taking any ally he could. He knew he couldn't out run them. They were bigger, armed and uninjured, while he was dragging behind a severely broken arm and was sporting bruises and pains in places he didn't even know he had. All he could do was buy time and hope to confuse them from finding Serenity and Mokuba. A shout from one of his pursuers made him run faster, but it was no good. They closed in on him like a pack of starved wolves on an injured deer.

Greg lunged and caught his feat, pulling him to the ground. Joey hit the pavement, his face scratched and dirtied as he was dragged across the concrete towards the other man. Greg stood and grabbed Joeys blonde locks forcefully, pulling his battered face back as Vince caught up to him. Hyou and Lyon were not far behind.

With Greg holding him from behind and Vince standing in front of him Joey believed this to be his end. If it was, he was going to go down fighting.

Putting his weight on one leg, he swung the other around and behind him like a dead weight, kicking Greg's feet from underneath him. Still holding Joeys hair he fell to the concrete. Rolling with the momentum, Joey managed to pull his head from the other mans grip, just to come standing up face to face with Vince and a switch blade dagger.

Dogging from a swing the man sent at him, Joey ducked, shifted his weight and brought his foot crashing with force into the man chest. Vince would have cried out in pain if the air hadn't been expelled from him. He was sent tumbling back onto the floor, winded and gasping for breath.

Hyou and Lyon had run up to Joey from behind. Their knives ready and drawn, Greg too had gotten up with a knife in hand. Launching himself at Joey for the second time, he wielded his blade. Attacking Joey from behind, he took a huge swinging stab at the youth from above. Joey shifted his weight again and moved slightly to the side. The blade narrowly missed his shoulder as he spun to face his present attacker. Rising his fist he struck with speed and force. Hitting the man, with the full strength of his first on his upper jaw.

Greg went flying and was out before he hit the ground. His dagger was released in the process and embedded its self I Joeys right upper thigh. He gasped in pain as the blood begun to flow from his wound and Hyou and Lyon attacked him.

Lyon jabbed at Joey with his own switch blade. Joey, in turn moved to avoid the attack on his right side. He was going to drop and kick Hyou on his left side in the leg, but Lyon grabbed his broken arm, that had been swinging around like a dead weight. Pulling on it violently and stretching the broken bones, Joey was brought towards him again, letting out a scream of agony at the pain. This action did save his life though, at least for the moment. For Hyou's dagger that had been aiming straight for his chest, was now buried in his shoulder. This sent another wave of pain through his already abused body and Joey screamed again. This scream was choked off by another greater cry and muffled by the sound of a gunshot as he fell to the ground. A bullet in his leg.

"Don't kill him." Said the commanding, rage filled voice of the 'Boss'. "If we can't find the others he will be all that we've got. In other words. We need him ALIVE." Hyou, Lyon and the recovering Vince all turned to their boss, who still held the .9mm in his hand. Joey looked up too, willing his vision to clear and see through the mist of pain that engulfed him. The dagger that had been dropped by Greg was still embedded in his leg. Rising his hand slowly, Joey tried to reach for it.

The 'Boss' hit him hard over the head with the butt of his gun, sending Joey to kiss the concrete once more.

"Don't even think about it. I may need you alive but that doesn't mean I need you conscious." The 'Boss' knelt down. Joey saw the butt of the gun coming towards his forehead. He knew that they may not decide to keep him alive, but it was alright. Mokuba and serenity were safe. The gun came down. Joey blacked out.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Mokuba gasped as he was plunged into darkness. With the initial shock over, he began to panic. Something was wrong, Joey hadn't come down! He had closed the cover. Were the men back? Did he do this on purpose? Did he need help? What could he do if he did need help and he was down here? The whimper of Serenity beside him brought Mokuba out of his panicked thoughts.

"Serenity, you there?"

"Y-yes." There was another whimper. It was so dark, Serenity couldn't see. It was like being blind, and she was worried for her brother. Nothing was going right. "I-I can't see. I can't see you" fear was obvious in her voice.

"It's ok" Mokuba soothed. Joey was risking his life to save him, and Mokuba was going to do everything in his power to keep his friends only sister safe.

"Reach your hand out to me…can you touch me? No? Take a small step forwards with your hand out. There, that's my shoulder!"

Mokuba reached up and placed his hand over Serenity's. She wasn't shaking, and appeared to have calmed down.

"Right, the wall is on my right" continued Mokuba "move to that side, along the wall. Do you think you can get behind me?"

Serenity nodded, then, realizing Mokuba couldn't see it, she answered verbally.

"Yes"

"Good. Don't let go of my shoulder." They were quiet for a moment as they both moved with slow small steps, switching their positions in the tunnel. With Serenity behind him and holding on to his shoulder, Mokuba reached out to touch the ladder on the wall. Scrunching his nose at the feel of filth under his hand, he overcame his disgust and concentrated on the instructions that Joey had given him.

"Serenity, I'm going to start moving. Hold on to my shoulder. If we're turning, I'll tell you…and Serenity…don't be scared. We'll get out" Serenity smiled in the darkness at the boy she had barley known, and now considered one of her closest friends.

"I know. I won't let go. Don't go to fast! Ok?"

"Ok."

Mokuba set off slowly, Serenity's hand pulled slightly on his shoulder as she followed behind him. Keeping his hand on the wall, not bothering with the slimy and gritty feel, Mokuba started to count the ladders. Joey's words echoing in his head.

_Six ladders straight, no turns. First turn after the sixth ladder. Four ladders turn to face left, there's a small walk way across the sewage. Go slow; you really don't want to fall in. At the other side, turn right again. Two ladders, the second turn. You'll be in a tunnel with no sewage and ladders on both sides. Keep your hand on the left side. Six ladders, first turning after. One ladder, then move to the other side of the tunnel. There should be an opening opposite the ladder. Take it. Eight ladders, left side, take the first opening after. Three ladders. Go up the ladder and push on the cover. It should open and you'll be in an area you recognize. Go to your house Mokuba. If the cover doesn't open, take the next ladder, ok? Don't forget!_

They moved quickly and in silence, with Mokuba leading the way. There was no sense of time as they moved in the darkness. Mokuba's hands became filthy and grazed from dragging them along the gritty wall. Despite their carefulness Serenity still slipped on the small walkway across the sewage. Her knee dipped in the unspeakable filth, covering her light blue jeans. She didn't make a sound at the disgusting event, but simply allowed Mokuba to help her up and urge him to continue leading the way.

They were in the last part of their journey through the tunnels. They had passed the last two ladders and were making their way towards the third and last ladder before they emerged into the open air. The smell had become normal to the two, so they didn't notice the disgusting odours, but they could still feel the dirt of the place clinging to their skins in a sticky sweat. A shower would be heaven.

Mokuba felt his hand come across the familiar iron bars of a ladder.

"This is it." He whispered to Serenity in the darkness.

"What?"

"This is where Joey said we should come up. He said we should be in a place we recognize. We just have to go up the ladder and push on the cover."

"Wait!" Mokuba stopped mid-step from the vice like grip that Serenity had on his shoulder. "Where will we go? I only know Yugi's house and I'm not sure if I remember where he lives."

"Shhh, don't worry Serenity" Mokuba said, gently removing her hand. "We'll go to my house. Seto will look after you and keep you safe. He'll let you see Yugi and he'll do everything he can to get Joey back. Ok?"

"Ok." Serenity sighed, relived that her small panic attack had passed. She removed her hand from Mokuba's shoulder as he began to ascend the stairs.

Mokuba slowly griped the rung of the ladder, and made sure he knew where to put his feet before he pushed himself up to begin climbing. Last time he had been going down the ladder and he had had the light of the moon to see by. Although that had been very little, it was better than the complete darkness that in cased him now. He was afraid of slipping and hitting Serenity on the way down. Injuring one, or worse, both of them in the fall. Luckily for Mokuba this didn't happen.

Reaching up with his hand again, Mokuba found himself laying it flat out against the metal cover in the ceiling. With the hope of fresh air he pushed hard with one arm against the iron. It didn't move. Mokuba pushed harder. The same thing happened.

Stepping up some more rungs on the ladder, he held on with one hand, bent his head and lifted his shoulder to push against the cover again. Pushing, he was afraid when the cover still didn't move. He persisted though, panic giving him strength.

Until the cover moved, releasing just a slither, from the rust and soil that had glued it to the ground. Lifting his right foot to another rung on the ladder, he added his lower body strength to the effort to lift the iron circle. This time, it moved.

Continuing to push until his legs straightened, Mokuba managed to move the cover a couple of inches up, relishing in the feel of fresh air rushing against his face. Moving the cover to the left, Mokuba hooked his fingers round the iron circle and pushed it slowly to the side. Taking great gulps of air as he exited the underground and climbing on all fours onto the pavement.

Looking down, Mokuba smiled at Serenity and motioned her to join him. She was smiling just as widely as him, and taking in the fresh air herself as she climbed out. Lying on the pavement, both of them relaxed from the freedom of total darkness, into the greyish light just before the first signs of dawn.

"I'm so glad we're out of there. I never knew air could taste so good." Stated serenity.

"Me neither." Replied Mokuba. The brief happiness passed soon for Serenity, as she realized that her one and only brother wasn't with them.

_He could be on the run? They could have captured him? They could be hurting him and she didn't know!_ Serenity didn't believe he was dead, her mind just refused to think about the concept. Stealing her emotions and swallowing her panic, Serenity concentrated on doing what she could. Staying safe and being strong for her brother.

"So, where are we? I don't know this street."

"Well…" Mokuba looked around for the first time. Standing up, he headed for a cross section further down the pavement. Serenity followed without comment. "There's the McDonalds, and this looks like Main Street so…" Mokuba thought for a moment, assessing his knowledge of where things were in the city, a habit he had picked up from older brother. Smiling and taking Serenity's hand in his own, he started moving with speed down the street.

"Come on, we're close to my house. I know the way. Come on! Seto will be waiting. I want to see my brother." Either Mokuba noticed what he had said, or he saw the look of utter sadness and depression on Serenity's face. Thoroughly regretting what he said, he stopped to look her in the face and apologize.

"I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" he started. Serenity stopped him by smiling sadly.

"It's ok; I know you didn't mean it. I would be looking forward to seeing my brother to… Now, can we get to your house? I want…oh god, I want…" she trailed off, tears threatening to form in her eyes.

"It's ok, it'll be ok." Mokuba reassured, squeezing her hand, as much for his own comfort as for Serenity's. Beginning to move again, they headed at a fast run to Kaiba mansion.

It was late, _very_ late, or very early depending on how you looked at it. Rowland had somehow managed to convince Seto to try and sleep, seeing that for some reason the kidnappers hadn't called again. Explaining to the young CEO that he would only be compromising his health and his ability to help with the investigation into his little brothers kidnap finally convinced the teen to try and get some hours of sleep.

Rowland still had his men working in shifts, but there really was little they could do. Sighing, he too decided to get some hours of sleep, closing the door on the people still working and sound proofing the room. Thanks to this, it was only Seto himself that herd the door-bell and rapid knocking. Tossing it off, he turned in his bed, not willing to come up from the half doze he had slipped into. The knocking and ringing continued, growing more frantic.

Angry, Seto tossed off the covers and began to stomp out of his room (he had gone to bed in his clothes), as mad as a raging bull.

Mokuba and Serenity had been knocking for a few minutes. The fact that they were so close to safety and warmth and were not going to be spending another night in fear of the men was getting to them. It was especially nerve wrecking for Mokuba, the desperation to see his brother was causing tears to begin to fill his eyes, and his ringing of the bell to become more frantic. Why wouldn't someone open the damn door?

Seto all but charged down the stairs. The rage at whoever was at the door growing with every step. How dare they call when he was getting to sleep! How dare they make a bad day worse! How dare they not understand his worrying about his little brother and friends. How dare…how dare…how dare they come here at _three_ in the fucking morning. By the time he did reach the door, he was ready to strangle the callers.

All of his rage immediately fled however, when he saw the two small figures standing before him.

When Mokuba saw his brother all but pull the door of its hinges, he lost it. Launching himself at his older brother's waist, he burst into tears. Serenity too started to cry, just from the extremity of what she had been through. Not caring about being awkward, she too attached herself to the 18 year old and cried.

Seto stood still when Mokuba locked himself onto his waist and began to cry. He still didn't grasp the enormity of what was happening when Serenity followed Mokuba and locked herself on to his waist, crying her little eyes out. Seto simply stood there, with his missing brother and the younger Wheeler sibling clinging to him.

Finally getting it through his head (after a good three minutes) that his supposed kidnapped brother was standing right in front of him, the stony eyed, cold-hearted businessman broke down.

Falling to his knees, he gathered the two filthy, crying eleven year olds in his wide embrace and let tears run freely down his own face.

"Mokuba, Mokuba, Mokuba…" he continued to repeat his beloved younger brother's name, pressing his face into the boy's long mess of familiar ebony hair. Longing for the physical contact and wishing for this not to be a dream, Seto continued to hold the two kids. When their cries started to die down into the occasional hiccup Seto pulled away to look at his brother and Serenity, still kneeling on the floor.

"Mokuba?...How?...What?...Are you?..." It was at this time, with the CEO still trying to form a coherent sentence that Rowland walked in. Taking in the situation, his professional mind set to work immediately.

"Master Mokuba!" The two kids turned to the body guard. Rowland took in their appearance. Their long hair was greasy and matted, both had dark circles under their eyes, Mokuba's hands were filthy and seemed to be scabbed, Serenity's hands were ok but her entire right leg was soaked in something brown, the two of them looked like they could use a bath. Seto was still holding on to their shoulders as they turned to look at his head bodyguard. He too had noticed their appearance, he also noticed that they were both smelling fowl, but both he and Rowland were relieved that they couldn't find any injuries on the two children.

"Why don't we go and sit down? I'll tell the men your here and we'll get you both something to eat and drink. Ok?" Rowland calmly said as he helped Seto from his kneeling position and urged them gently into the sitting room. Both of the kids nodded to the idea of food and something to drink.

Rowland sat both of the Kaiba brothers and Serenity down, before rushing to the kitchen and filling three glasses of water and grabbing some quick snacks, before hastily making his way back to the living room. Stopping at the make shift control room, he told the men what had happened, but stopped them from going to question the kids, saying they needed to be taken care of first.

Back in the sitting room, the children inhaled the snacks and the water immediately gulped down. Seto simply sipped at his water, trying to stop the tears from running down his face again and fighting to control his emotions. Once the two kids seemed to of calmed down somewhat and had finished their food, Rowland took the chance to ask the most important questions.

"Did the men injure you? Tell us if they did, you may need to see a doctor." Both kids shock their heads.

"They didn't hurt us" said Mokuba "but they hurt Joey." Serenity's eyes welled up and she began to cry silent tears. Hiding her head in her hands, her shoulders shook as she quietly sobbed. Seto and Rowland both looked to the girl with concern.

"What did they do to Mr. Wheeler? And where is he now? How did you escape, but not him?" continued Rowland, he knew this must be hard for the kids but he needed to know the answers. Mokuba glanced at Serenity, and then answered for both of them.

"They broke his arm, possibly in two places and hit Joey badly. He did it to protect me…" Mokuba stopped to wipe away the tears before they fell, remembering how his friend had protected and saved them from the men.

"I don't know where Joey is. He came up with this plan to escape and get us out from the warehouse. It worked. He then told us to go down the sewers and gave us directions to get to Main Street; apparently he had worked as an inspector for a time. We got down the ladder and he was going to follow, but something happened. I think he heard something, maybe the men came back? He told us to run and follow his instruction and then closed the lid on us. That's how we got here, but…we don't know where he is. What if the men did come back? They could have seen him? They could have caught him? They could have hurt him…he could be dead?"

"NO!" Serenity screamed, everyone turned to her. The eleven year old had jumped up and was facing Mokuba. Tears still ran down her face, but her eyes were burning.

"HE IS NOT DEAD!" She continued to scream. "My brother is strong, don't even think that. You said that your brother would find him, that it would be ok, so don't you dare say he's dead. Even if they did get him, Joey wouldn't die that easy. He'd live…for me."

Serenity's chest was heaving from the exertion of her outburst. An accusing finger pointed at Mokuba.

"Just…don't say he's dead, ok." She finished, sitting back down and staring at her hands cupped in her lap. A silence descended over the room. Mokuba stared off into space while Rowland and Seto both stared at the two kids.

"That's enough for tonight." Seto broke the silence quietly "Mokuba, Serenity why don't you take a bath and go to bed. Serenity, you can use one of the spare rooms and borrow some of Mokuba's clothes, alright?"

Both children nodded and got up to follow the teen out the room. Seto led Serenity to a guest room near his and Mokuba's. He set the shower temperature and gave her a towel. Telling her to leave her clothes by the bathroom door as he exited the room, returning to place some of Mokuba's pajamas on the queen size bed.

Exiting again and moving down the hallway, he entered his brother's room and waited for him to finish showering. When he did, Seto rushed over to embrace his brother. Both Kaiba's cried for a while, until Mokuba fell asleep in Seto's embrace. The older Kaiba put his brother to bed and went to check on their guest. Seeing her asleep, he went to his own room. Falling onto the bed, it was seconds before his eyes closed and he too was asleep.

Joey slept also, though not of his own free will. The men had chloroformed him to stop him from waking up. His arm was twisted, but the wound on his leg had clogged and stop bleeding. He was still bleeding slowly from his shoulder as the wound had not quite clogged yet. Joey legs were tied and a gag was strung tightly in his mouth. The van moved with Joey being thrown around in the back and hitting his head several times. He would not see dawn for a while.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The next day Rowland and his team questioned the two kids on how they had escaped and what the men looked like. Using their top of the range equipment, they managed to retrace Mokuba's and Serenity's path through the sewers to the warehouse they had been held in. Descriptions of the men were given, along with their names and Rowland had called on a few favours, setting up a search to find out more about them and their employers.

Nothing had come of the search yet. What they had found out about the men was that 'they were dangerous' and nothing more. They still did not know who had employed them to kidnap Mokuba. The search of the warehouse held similar depressing results. The place had been abandoned, but a search of the area found blood on one of the pavements. After DNA testing had been done, it was found that sadly most belonged to Joey, this had lead Serenity to go into another panic about her brother until Mokuba and Rowland managed to calm her down with reassuring words.

Yugi and Yami had been told of the two kids miraculous escape. There had been much celebrating and embracing on Yugi and Serenity's part. Yami had asked about Joey and been told that he was still missing presumed captured, also that they had found his blood and a signs of a struggle. Yugi had started to cry silently and Yami had to look away from Seto to get a grasp on his own emotions.

There had been no contact from the men yet and Yugi and Yami left to tell the others. Seto, Mokuba and Serenity were sitting in the living room once again.

"Serenity?" began Seto "don't you think you should tell your parents about where you're staying and about Joey. I think its bad we've kept this from them. Your mum and dad must be worried."

"My mum and dad are divorced." Was her reply.

"…Oh"

"I haven't spoken to my dad since the divorce and I don't know his number. Mum's on a trip to Tokyo for some reason or another."

"Who are you staying with then?" Mokuba entered the conversation for the first time.

"Some friends of Mums. She wanted to go out, so Joey came and took me out for the day."

"You should phone her then; you've been gone two nights."

"Yeah…I guess I should. Can I use your phone?"

"Of course Serenity…here." Seto stood, took the phone from its cradle and handed it to her.

As Serenity dialled the number, she began to speak again. "Do you want me to tell her about the kidnapping, or not?"

"Well…" Seto uncomfortable look said that he really didn't want people finding out, but he didn't want to stop Serenity from telling her family. Serenity decided that it was best just to keep quiet. On the other end of the phone someone spook.

"Hello."

"Hello Aunt Miko, its Serenity."

"Serenity! Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you."

"Sorry, I've been staying at a friend's." In the living room, both Kaiba's were listening to the conversation with interest.

"For two whole days! Why didn't you call me earlier?"

"Sorry" Serenity said again "it kind of slipped my mind. Have you called mum?"

"No, I haven't called Jane; I was going to if you didn't call soon. Really Serenity, I never thought of you as being so irresponsible. Your brother didn't phone either, but that's to be expected." Serenity's eyes showed great hurt and anger at the statement about her brother. "So, who are you staying with? Do I know them? It's not a shady friend of your brother is it? Jane told me about him. I don't know why I let you go with him." Serenity's grip on the phone tightened

"So, come on, who is it?" Taking a few seconds to get her anger at the women under control, she took a deep breath. Both Kaiba's were slightly scared from the ferocious glare the normally passive girl was sending to the opposite wall as she talked to the receiver.

"No, I don't think you know them, it's not one of my brother's friends either. It's Mokuba Kaiba. I've been staying at his place for a few days."

"Wait, Kaiba? As in Seto Kaiba's little brother?"

"Yes."

"You never told me you knew them! You could ask them for so much, you could ask them for money and you could get into all the high-class parties, I could meet…"

"Look! I'm staying here for the rest of my stay in Domino. Don't worry, I'll tell mum."

"But Serenity…"

"Thanks Aunt Miko." With that Serenity cancelled the call and slammed the phone on the table. Glaring at it, like she could set it alight.

"She…she…that woman is horrid. How dare she say that about my brother, how dare she think she can use you like that. I…I…I hate her." Serenity all but screamed. The two brothers looked on with mild, but well masked, fear as the small girl let out her anger.

"Serenity?" Mokuba cautiously asked.

"I'm fine Mokuba; I just can't stand that women." Serenity turned to face Seto. "I hope you don't mind me saying that I was staying here?"

"Stay as long as you want. There's plenty of room and I'm not going to kick you out with your brother still missing." The girl visibly brightened. "Don't you think you should phone your mum now?"

"No."

"…Excuse me?" Seto asked, not sure he had heard right.

"I'm not phoning her."

"But Serenity…why?" said Mokuba, worried about his friend.

"I'm not phoning her, because she's on a trip and I don't want to disturb her, and if I do, she'll come and get me and either take me to Tokyo or take me home. I won't be here when we find Joey and I won't be able to see him if that happens. So I am not phoning her."

Seto nodded once, understanding her reasoning, his curiosity about Joey's family situation growing. The CEO had always assumed the Mutt had the perfect family life, now he could tell that was far from the truth and it intrigued him. "I see, well you can stay as long as you like Serenity…and don't worry, we'll find your brother. Rowland's a professional."

"Thank you Seto, that means a lot." There was a small silence.

"Serenity, let's go to my room. There's nothing we can do till we get a lead and we might be in the way here." Mokuba stated.

Serenity slowly let a smile come on to her face, though it looked a bit strained.

"Ok." Mokuba led her out the room and up the stairs to his own. Seto sighed, where the hell was the damn Mutt. He had better be ok, and those men better not of hurt him or they were going to regret it.

XXX

Joey didn't know where he was. He thought he was underground, but he couldn't tell as the room he was confined in had no windows. It was a bland concrete box, with nothing furnishing it but a single chair in the corner. Joey's legs were tied and his arms bound behind him. His broken arm should have hurt but his mind had become numb to the pain. There was no one else in the room.

Joey tried to move and shift his legs into a more comfortable position, only to find his hands were shackled tightly to the wall, giving him little room to move. It was cold in the room, colder that it had been in the warehouse. The blonde's skin was covered in goose-bumps as his thin t-shirt and worn jeans did little to fend off the chill. The door was directly opposite him, the dark wood as depressing as the concrete around it. Joey throat was incredibly dry and crying out for water. When he tried to clear it he discovered he was gagged.

His shirt was stiff on his skin, looking at the blue material he found it stained in dried blood. His jeans were also stained in the same rust coloured substance. He remembered the knife wounds to his shoulder and thigh. They burned with pain at the memory of the knives puncturing his skin.

Joey sat like that, in pain, shackled and gagged for awhile before he fell asleep. His exhaustion catching up to him and draining him of whatever energy he had left.

"_You let them escape! There capture was essential. Why should I pay you, now that you no longer have the goods?"_

"We didn't let all of them escape. The blonde, a friend of the kid's still with us. He's injured and unconscious, but alive. You can still use him."

"_NO. We needed the younger Kaiba. We'll have to make more preparations now…and go underground for a while. Kaiba is looking for us and we need to disappear…your right though! The kid can still help…if you do your job correctly."_

"I will. Last time was a mistake. What do I need to do? If you are disappearing, I will need orders to give to my men and some payment up front."

"_Fine, I will have the cash delivered. Half of what would have been your pay. Keep the kid where you are now. Depending on Kaiba he might be there for a while…no need to treat him nicely. He got the others out and tried to escape himself, show him we don't take kindly to that."_

"So the pay will be delivered?"

"_Yes."_

"And I can tell my men that they have a new toy. Greg and Vince have something to set right with the kid."

"_Do what you want, it doesn't concern me. Just keep him alive…in-fact have fun, his willingness to scream at our commend may come in handy. Play with your toy, don't break it."_

"Will you contact us?"

"_We will if we need to, until we do you can have some fun."_

"What if Kaiba finds us, if he does the contracts off. You know how I work, I'll do what you want but I don't get involved in the politics."

"_I know, but failure means no pay. I don't expect them to find you though. You're a professional and have your reputation to think of after all."_

"Understood, I will be expecting my pay…and thank you for the toy. I always wanted one just like it." with that the 'Boss' hung up the phone, a maniacal grin spreading over his face as he thought of the amusement his new toy could bring.

Joey was in a state between conscious and dreaming. A hazy half state in which his situation was present to him, but the pain that came along with it was not. He was, however, roused from this to full consciousness by the opening of the cell door. Greg and Vince entered, one followed by the other. Vince closed the door and turned on the single hanging bulb from the ceiling. Joey wasn't surprised he missed it before, his only light had come from the gap below the door and that was little. The bulb was not bright and only served to cast a sickly half light in the room, illuminating the centre and leaving the corners in darkness.

The two men expelled threat like a mist; their eyes looked upon Joey with unsuppressed malice and hatred. The fact they were smiling only caused the Joeys skin to crawl. He stared back definitely with his own amber brown eyes, as he simultaneously tried to melt into the wall. Vince took the seat while Greg moved to stand before Joey.

"Boss said we got ourselves a new toy. Play but don't break is what he said. The thing is…" Greg lent down and faced Joey their noses almost touching as he spat his words into Joeys face "…we like to play rough."

He smiled again as he unshackled Joey from the wall, his legs and hands still bound, he was pushed onto his stomach and pressed into the ground. Greg straddled the back of his legs and grabbed a fist full of blond hair. Pulling harshly on Joey's hair and pressing on his back with his other hand, the boys head was yanked painfully upwards.

"Me and Vince got something to settle with you boy. See, we don't like the way you treated us, but don't worry. We'll have you screaming like a school girl by the end of this, and the dept will be repaid." Greg looked to Vince, who chucked him a knife. Greg caught its handle expertly and swiftly sliced and removed Joey's top, tossing the fabric into the shadows of the room.

Joey was deathly frightened. What were they going to do to him? How long was it going to last? His questions were soon answered.

Greg pressed the knife to Joey's back and in one swift movement sliced a shallow neat cut across the expanse of skin.

"Mmmh" Joey slight chocking scream was muffled by the gag. Vince frowned and the small sound.

"Hang on Greg, take the gag of. This won't be as much fun if we can't hear him scream." Greg obliged to Vince's wishes and removed the gag. Once that was done, he sliced several more time across Joey's back. Joey was stubborn however, refusing to scream simply because it would give his tormentors pleasure. He bit his lip to keep the sounds from escaping his mouth; blood ran down his chin as he bit too hard into the skin, causing it to bleed. Still Joey didn't make a sound.

Vince didn't like this; it was just like when he had beaten the blonde. He couldn't see Joey's eyes as his blonde bangs feel over them, but he knew the boy must have been feeling pain. Greg was growing impatient to.

Growling that the blonde youth wasn't screaming already, Greg lost his patients and instead of applying well controlled and neat cuts, he began to draw savage, deep lines on the blonde's crimson back.

Joey's eyes widened at the attack and he bit don even harder on his lip to stop from screaming. Scrunching his eyes shut to try and block out the pain, he knew he was crying. Crisscrossing lines covered his skin and bathed his back in crimson. The dark liquid trickled around his thin frame to the floor.

"Little brat." Spat Greg. His flashed his red knife through the blonde's skin once more. "Scream!"

"Wait here." Vince stood and exited the room, letting bright light fill the concrete box and illuminate the mixing of the blood and tears of the blonde. Greg stopped his torture for a moment to stare curiously at where his companion had just been. This pause came as a great relief to Joey, giving him time to try and push the scorching pain out of his mind.

The relief was short lived though as Vince return quickly. In his hand he held a bucket.

Vince returned and gestured for Greg to move. He did, and grinned wider than before when Vince showed him what he had planned. Vince replaced Greg in straddling the teen's legs. Lifting a handful of white grains from the bucket, he applied the salt to Joeys back and began rubbing it in.

Joey couldn't help it, the moment the salt touched his wounds, he screamed. His voice echoed several times of the concrete room. Joey's tears streamed quicker down his cheeks, and a low sob escaped from his throat. Vince continued to place salt on his back, rubbing it into the wounds, making the pain unbearable. Joey screamed several more times, all the while Vince smiled and Greg laughed. This continued till Joey's throat grew sore and hoarse, stopping him from screaming anymore.

"I told you we'd get you to scream brat." Vince whispered and then licked the shell of Joey's ear. The slimy feeling of his tongue sent shivers down Joey spine. The pain had hurt him, but this made him feel filthy, like his soul was coated and rotting in slime. Greg laughed again as he and Vince stood to leave the room. The former kicked Joey in the side and his stomach a few times for good measure and then left. They turned off the light, leaving a blonde teenage youth, lying in his blood and tears, bound and thrown across the floor. Joey's eyes filled with pain, but also with determination. Determination not to die, determination not to give in, and determination to see Serenity again. He would survive this, for that reason.

They were still searching. It had been two days since the kids had returned and Seto and his team were still working nonstop to find out where Joey was. The captors hadn't contacted again, Rowland believed they had gone underground as their plans had been compromised by the escape of Mokuba. They may believe that Seto didn't care enough about anyone but his brother to follow their demands. Seto found it ironic how, for once, his cold-hearted reputation was coming in handy.

Yugi and Yami had visited every day since the disappearance of Joey. Serenity and Mokuba had become very close friends, but the girl was becoming more withdrawn with every passing day.

"Sir!" Seto looked up from the couch in the living room.

"Yes?"

"We've got a lead on the men holding Mr. Wheeler." Seto stood with all signs of his previous tiredness gone. Finally they had something to find Joey.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

Joey estimated that it had been around two days since he was imprisoned in the concrete room. They had brought him water and then placed some in a bucket for him to drink from if he could crawl to it. He had been given bread to eat, but that was it. At first he had felt hunger pains, but his stomach was just to empty to hurt anymore. Joey had been beaten several times since the incident with his back and the scarring. He was also fairly certain that his ankle was fractured and his ribs were damaged in some way. One of the men had beaten him when they were drunk, they had hit him over the head with a bottle of booze and some of the glass shards were still imbedded in his scalp and the back of his neck. The blood from the wounds had dried in his long shaggy hair, turning it an ugly rust colour and sticking it to his face.

Joey was filthy and he knew it. The room smelt of blood and waste. There was no toilet in the room so Joey had been forced to go in a corner. The smell was horrible. There was also the tangy metal taste of his own blood in the air. Joey would have thrown up if his stomach wasn't to empty.

He had no idea how long he could take this, but he hoped to hold out until Kaiba could find him. He knew the brunette would be looking for him, for all their fights the CEO was not coldhearted enough to let him die. Kaiba had an honour code too; Joey had rescued his little brother, so he knew Kaiba would do everything to rescue him. The question was, how long would it take? And would he still be alive?

Joey was sitting against the wall when the door opened and the light was turned on. There was the sound of the door closing and being locked. He looked up through his blood coated bangs to see the 'Boss', the only one of his capture that hadn't visited him yet.

The 'Boss' walked into the room and did nothing but stare at the teen that was his captive for a few minutes. Crossing the room in two strides, he knelt down in front of the boy. Taking Joeys chin in his hand he tilted his head to face him. Joey faced the man that had imprisoned him and stared with as much hatred as he could muster in his weekend state. A low chuckle escaped the back of the mans throat.

"You shouldn't hate me, you know. I didn't decide to kidnap you; I'm only following my employer's orders. You can understand that, can't you?"

Joey simply narrowed his eyes further, staring even more heatedly at the man in front of him.

"Hmmm." The 'Boss' raised one slender eyebrow at seeing the youth's reaction. Taking his hand that was still on the boys face, he turned Joeys head from side to side.

"Such a shame, I told my men to have some fun but it appears they don't know how to treat their toys rightly. Such a shame." He repeated. He then ran his eyes up and down Joey's bare chest and rested his gaze on Joey's pants, licking his lips unintentionally. Joey noticed where the man's eyes had wondered. Turning his head sharply, he took the man's hand that was still resting on his cheek, into his mouth and bit down, hard.

The 'Boss' cried out as the blonde's teeth drew blood. Yanking his hand away, he slapped the teen. All signs of gentleness gone. His face twisted into a snarl.

"Damn brat." He spat. "I might have let you enjoy this, but seeing as you obviously like it rough." His voice had turned into a husky whisper, as the thought of what he was going to do to the helpless teen before him clouded his mind.

Joey looked at the man, trying to mask his confusion, but failing miserably through weakness and pain. The 'Boss' found the look amusing apparently, and let out a low, dirty chuckle. Grabbing Joey's chin roughly again, he forced the blonde to look him in the eye.

"I told you there was no reason to hate me, but seeing as you obviously wish to despise my very being," leaning over his tongue licked the youths ear and then trailed down his jaw bone "allow me to give you a reason."

Joey would have thrown up if there were anything in his stomach, when the man's mouth crushed against his own. A sickly tongue was pressed against his lips and Joey instantly clamped them shut. Almost absentmindedly the 'Boss' reached down and swiftly broke one of Joey's fingers. The pain caused Joey to yelp and a tongue harshly pushed passed his wounded lip to plunder his mouth.

Joey didn't like this, who would, but it reminded him of his past, of what he thought he had escaped. He felt like the Gods were punishing him forever thinking he could be more than toy for other peoples' pleasure, for their gain, for their own desires. He wasn't bound anymore, but he couldn't fight back, he was to week, always to week. The hands of the man grabbed his lower hips and pulled, causing him to lose his sitting position and fall to the cold floor. A low sob escaped him as his scared and injured back collided with cold, unforgiving concrete, also jarring his injured ribs. Another sob escaped Joey, but was swallowed up by the unwanted mans greedy mouth.

Moving away from Joey lips the 'Boss' began to work on the rest of his 'toy'. Kissing and touching what he wanted, leaving ugly red marks on the lightly tanned skin. Joey hated what he was feeling, hands were all over him, a tongue was continually pressed on him, he felt filthy and there was nothing he could do about it. He was simply to week to fight his attacker. The worst part however, was that he knew what was coming next.

His vision blurred as he was continually caressed by ruff, unfeeling hands. He didn't register in his mind that he had been stripped or that the man had flipped him onto his stomach and discarded his own trousers. Joey didn't realize any of this as it happened, but he felt it.

Oh God, it hurt. Like he was being ripped in two as the man roughly and quickly penetrated him, ramming into him again and again. Joey knew he was bleeding; tears he thought he had shed came cascading down his face onto the floor as he was mercilessly pounded into.

Time had no meaning for him anymore, he could have been being rapped for minutes or hours, all he felt was the pain. Suddenly the pounding stopped and Joey felt his insides filled with hot liquid as the man poured his seed into him. Joey was sobbing, shaking like a child in his agony. The man stood and recovered his trousers, panting slightly from his sickening activities.

"Thanks kid" he lent over the blonde's to whisper in his ear, and deliver the last words of his torment. "That was great; I can't wait to play again"

Turning off the light he left the room, laughing.

Joey just laid there, his blood slowly seeping out of him to gather with the already dried remains on the floor. The pain had numbed in his mind, but he felt filthy. He had always felt dirty, since the first time, but he had managed to suppress the feeling, convincing himself that it wasn't true. Now the feeling had come back tenfold and he couldn't fight the pain it was inflicting on his soul. Why was he always so week? Why could he never fight? Why did this happen to him?

Joey cried himself to sleep.


	12. Joey's thoughts

**Joey's thoughts**

_Pain. That's what he felt. Continues pain._

_His body burned with it, his soul rotted in it. There was no sense of time for him anymore, just when they were here and when they weren't. When the pain was being inflicted and when he sat in his own suffering. He didn't think much anymore, many times he forgot to eat, often forgetting to drink as well. He still screamed. He had tried not to, but he was broken. He would scream until his throat was horse, refusing to make a sound and till, it to, was in pain. _

_He didn't recognise or remember the names of the people who caused him pain; he sometimes forgot his own name. The name by which he would have been called by his friends. Another life time ago it seemed._

_His friend's names began to fade in his mind and it felt like he was betraying them, causing an even deeper pain in his heart. He would repeat them, to desperately try to remember; to hold on to what he knew had existed. One name he would not forget, repeating it till it became everything, till the name became sacred. Serenity... He felt like he was tainting it by saying it, inflicting it with his filth. Serenity. Serenity. Serenity…_

_They would beat him, cut him, break him, and after that, they would use him. The beatings left him in pain but their use of him for pleasure made him feel dirty. His soul was being infected by the filth of his body, and slowly dying in tear stained agony._

_In times, when he remembered to drink and when he rarely ate, his mind would clear. He would try to reinforce his determination. Remind himself that someone would rescue him. Then they would come back, and he would be in pain._

…_but, the thing was… he liked it. He liked the pain; he craved the burning of his body, the salty tears that would spill from his eyes and the sounds that would be wrenched from his throat. He liked it. It meant he was alive. He needed to know he was alive… for Serenity. That sacred name._

_He had convinced himself that she needed him, needed him so much that she would surly die if he did. That her sacred being would be tarnished if he ceased being. For that reason, he needed to know he was alive, needed the pain to remind him. In the times it would numb, he would worry. Worry that he was dying, that he wouldn't make it. That's all he wanted, all he knew that he needed, was to be alive. Living. To feel the pain and know that he was breathing. He craved the suffering._

_Serenity. Serenity. Serenity. I'm alive, I'm alive. I feel…I feel. I can't feel! It's numb! I'm numb! I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm…I'm…Am I alive? What's life? Serenity, I'm alive, aren't I?_

The door to the cell burst open revelling three figures standing at its entrance.

_Ah, they'll tell me, I'll see if I'm alive. Serenity._

The first man stepped forward into the cell; he was followed by the other two.

_They'll tell me. I'll feel it. I hope I'm alive. Serenity._

A slow smile spread over Hyou's face as he curled his fist.

_That's new…Hope. I hope? Hope is nice, I like it, I __**feel**__ it. Do you hope Serenity? I think you do._

He drew his fist back.

_Am I alive? Does hope mean you're alive? I need to feel. Why don't I feel? Serenity._

The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed around the cell, the laughter of the men joined it. Joey's flesh burned.

_Pain! Pain! Burning pain._

_I'm alive._


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 **

They burst into the room throwing the door open, and immediately took a step back at the smell. They had expected a friend of the two men they had caught to be hiding in the room, what they found was the bloody, battered body of a blonde haired teen. Calling for their boss, they informed him that they had found what they were looking for.

Rowland stepped into the room; he too covered his mouth at the smell. Lying on the floor the naked teen was covered in his own blood, much more of it was dried on the floor. He had some openly gaping wounds and some which were infected, white puss seeping freely from them. His arm was twisted in an unnatural position and a small glint at his ankle showed the bone that had ripped through the skin. The boy had soiled himself where he lay and the smell of waste was powerful in the air.

Rowland was disgusted, not in all his years had he seen something like this. Even in his strict professional mind anger flared. This was the boy that had saved Master Mokuba and he was lying, dying, maybe even dead, on the floor.

Running to the blonde he turned him onto his back and placed his arm in a more natural position. He didn't wake up. Checking quickly for a pulse, he found one, though it was incredibly faint.

"Get the paramedics now!" there was no need to shout though, as his men had already sent for them.

"Keep checking the perimeter, some of the men could still be here. Master Mokuba said there were five and we've only got two, I want the others found."

"Yes sir" was the reply of the men.

The paramedics came quickly and paled at the site. Working quickly in silence they got the teen onto a stretcher, decently covering him with a blanket and moving him swiftly into the ambulance.

"Sir?" one of the paramedics asked just as they were loading the blonde up.

"Yes?" Rowland answered.

"We're phoning ahead to the hospital, can you give us the patient's name?"

"Wheeler, his name is Joseph Wheeler."

At hospital Joey was rushed immediately to the emergency ward. Seto had been informed that they had found him. It had taken them nearly a week to track down the captors. They had gotten a lead, but it had been a slow process to chase up the elusive facts of where they had taken Joey. He was now sitting stony faced in the waiting room of the hospital. A white, sterile room that smelt of disinfectant and had an undertone of the metallic taste of blood hanging in the air. Serenity and Mokuba had come with him, Yugi and Yami had been told and were already there, the rest of Joey's friends had been informed and were due to be arriving shortly.

Seto sat in one of the white chairs that lined the sides of the room, Yami sat opposite him on the other side, Yugi curled up silently weeping in his lap. Mokuba and Serenity were sitting on the left of the CEO. Tears were streaming down Serenity's face but she didn't make a sound. Mokuba was holding his friends hand comfortingly but Seto could tell that he too was close to tears. The brunette himself just sat wearing his boardroom meeting mask, and keeping an emotionally absent face. Inside he was in great confusion of how he should be feeling.

He had hated Joey, the 'Mutt' had been one of the great aggravating annoyances in his life, his cocky attitude and happy-go-lucky attitude had irked him to no end. Until now. Looking back he realized that the blonde had truly done nothing to make him hate him to the level he had believed he had. Joey's attitude may annoy him, but it gave him no real reason to hate him. The blonde had even made sacrifices for his brother back when they were trapped in a virtual reality; he had helped Kaiba, and also tried, in a stubborn cocky way, to be his friend. And now he had done…this.

Tried to save his brother from being kidnapped, got him out and away from his captors when he had and endured Ra knew what at the hands of people that hated _him. _They had been after _him_, he should be the one in emergency room not Joey, and_ he_ should have been the one that suffered.

_Why is it always the people I care for that have to suffer instead of me…did I just think that._

But it was true, in some way he had come to care for the blonde in his absence, maybe he had even cared a bit before that. He wished for Joey's recovery, hoped that he would be alright and survive. He swore right then and there that he would do whatever it took to make it up to the blonde, for saving his one and only little brother, he was forever in Joey's dept.

It was then that Tristan arrived.

"Where is he?" the brunette cried out instantly when he saw the others.

"In there." Yugi pointed to the door, and then turned his face back to the comfort of his lover's chest. Tristan looked desperately to Yami, a silent question in his eyes.

"We don't know his condition…they haven't told us." He answered.

Tristan seemed to deflate, and bowed his head to hide the tears coming to his eyes. Once he had regained composure the brunette took in the rest of Joey's visitors. Smiling sadly at Serenity, he was going to go and comfort her about the finding of her brother, when he saw the Kaiba brothers. He glared at both of them, mostly Seto; he didn't have the heart to hate the younger Kaiba. This was all _their fault. _It was because of _them _that Joey had been gone for a little over a week and was now here. Growling, and with a great effort of will, he managed to sedate his anger enough to sit opposite and far away from the two brothers.

Kaiba had seen the glare the other brunette had sent him. Did he blame him for Joey's condition? That was ridiculous, but wasn't he thinking the same thing? Closing his eyes, Seto tried to regain some order in his thoughts. It was quiet once again in the waiting room.

Almost ten minutes after Tristan arrived, Ryou, Bakura and Duke made their appearance in the waiting room. Ryou looked like he had already done a fair bit of crying, Bukura had an arm round his pale lover tightly, Duke looked worried and slightly lost.

"Wh-Where is he?" Yami nodded to the emergency room, Yugi had fallen asleep on his lap not too long ago. Mokuba and Serenity too had nodded off into a light doze, worrying themselves to sleep.

"How is his condition?" asked Duke, taking a seat next to Serenity and opposite Yami and Tristan. Ryou and Bukura sat in the two chairs between them.

"We don't know, not even Kaiba's been told. They found him and took him straight to surgery. They haven't come out since."

"I see…" Duke fell silent, worry for the person he had once humiliated and was now considered a close friend weighing heavily on him.

"I-Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Ryou asked timidly, still in the tight grip of Bakura.

"Right now? No. The surgeons will know better what to do for him, Kaiba hired the best." Yami looked to the stoic CEO opposite him. Kaiba gave a curt nod as a reply.

"For now, all we can do is wait."

Bakura growled, out of all the losers Ryou forced him to hangout with Joey had been alright. Although he was reluctant to call any of them his friends the former tomb robber was still worried for the blonde and frustrated at his helplessness.

Malik and Marik arrived, neither were the type to cry but the worry in their eyes was evident. The conversation went much the same way as I did with Tristan and Ryou. They took their seats next to Duke. The silence and waiting continued. Mokuba and Serenity slept on, but woke occasionally; only too see that nothing had changed. Yugi and Ryou slept as well, with Duke and Tristan closing their eyes for a few minutes and slipping into a light doze. Malik and Marik followed their examples and lent against each other while they cached up on the sleep they had lost when they had first heard the news. No one asked them to leave; Seto had made sure they wouldn't. Yami, Bakura and the young CEO were the only ones that remained fully awake.

"Why did this have to happen to him?" Yami asked quietly, almost timidly. The two awake males were surprised by the question.

"What do you mean why did this happen to him? It happened, end of story. There's nothing we can do about it pharaoh but hope he's alright, you said it yourself. So stop asking stupid questions." Bakura answered, keeping quiet so as not to awaken the other albino that was resting his head on his shoulder.

"…You're right, sorry." Seto was suddenly aware of just how rattled his rival, and he reluctantly admitted, friend, was by the ordeal of the blonde. He would never say sorry to Bakura.

Bakura too noticed this, and normally he would milk it for all its worth, but in the circumstances he let it slide. Damn, he was getting soft, maybe Ryou really was rubbing off on him.

Yami was quiet for a moment, but then made an attempt at his normal mocking smirk which he reserved for the darker albino.

"…you know Bakura; it almost sounds like your trying to cheer me up."

"Hump, don't even think about it."

Yami nuzzled Yugi hair affectionately while the small teen continued to sleep in his lap. He looked up, his eyes once again sharp and burning crimson in suppressed fury.

"You better catch who did this too him Kaiba."

The CEO too was filled with fury at the men that had kidnapped his brother and Serenity, along with making Joey suffer.

"Oh, trust me pharaoh, I will. I too want those men to suffer for even thinking about taking my brother." He glances quickly at the raven haired boy that was sleeping in the chair next to him, his eyes softening for a second before they regained their previous coldness.

"When you do…" Bakura growled out "…give them to me; I'll make sure they suffer."

There was silence for a long time in the waiting room. People woke briefly, just to go back to sleep when they found out nothing had changed. A nurse came and asked them if they wanted anything to eat or drink, but once everyone had what they wanted they were, again, left alone in silence. Yami, Seto, Bakura, Malik and Marik were the only ones awake when the red light above the door finally blinked of and the doctor came out.

All of them stood, anxious to hear about their friend.


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Yami stood, knocking Yugi from his lap and waking him up. Ryou woke up from the sudden departure of Bakura's shoulder which he'd been using as a pillow. The shouting of Seto and the other teens awoke the rest of the sleeping visitors.

"How is he?" they all but screamed at the same time. The doctor backed off a step in shock but quickly regained his composure and a sad look came about his face. The others had come out of there sleepy state, and too were anxious to hear what the doctor would say. Serenity was staring at him with hopeful eyes, but tears were still threatening to spill.

The doctor sighed. This would not be easy for them.

"Joseph Wheeler was in a terrible condition when we he got here. None of us have any idea how he survived or was still alive when you found him. We did all we can and have gotten him out of sever critical condition, but he hasn't shown any signs of waking. He may or may not pull through."

Serenity's eyes filled fully with tears now and they began to cascade down her face. She wasn't silent anymore and began to cry loudly over the suffering of her brother. The doctor called to a nurse that was passing in the hallway to help the distressed girl and lead her away from the rest of the talk. The nurse took Serenity and Mokuba, who had too begun to cry, off a little way from the group and tried to calm her sobbing.

The doctor looked at them for a moment, feeling for the small girl, before turning back to the group. Yami was holding Yugi tightly, and Bakura was doing the same with Ryou. Both of the smaller teens had tears in their eyes but refused to let them shed. Tristan had balled his hands into fist and bowed his head to the floor. A loud explanation of 'Damn' could be heard from him. Duke eyes had widened and he had gone pale, all blood drained from his face at the shocking news. Malik hadn't buried himself in Marik's chest, but he wasn't complaining from the sudden deathlike grip of a hand on his. Both of them held on to each other in silent comfort.

Seto remained still, but his eyes glaze over. Despite being a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, right then he just wanted someone to hold him.

Joey, the Mutt, the Puppy…might _die_.

_No, he can't die! The puppy can't die! He was so full of life, so full of fire when I would tease him, how could that be extinguished. How could the only one of us that never seemed to give up on anything ever be gone, be broken. I don't want to see that. I don't want that to happen. I him to die!_

"Wh-What was wrong with him" Ryou's quiet voice surprised them all, but brought them out of their stupor.

The doctor sighed before looking at his clipboard to read out the notes that were written there about Joey's condition.

"Joseph Wheeler arm was broken in several places and we had to re-brake some of the bone to set it properly. A few of his fingers were dislocated and one was broken. His ankle was broken and the bone jarred so it split the skin, we had to cut into his foot to set it right. He has for broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung and made it collapse, another six of his ribs are cracked in several places. He has several spine injuries but nothing that big. There was a lot of internal bleeding and bruising. There are knife wounds and signs of repetitive torture with blades, some are infected and I'm afraid that they will leave scars."

Yugi, Ryou, Malik and surprisingly Duke were crying full out now. Tristan was just hanging on, his knuckles had gone white and his jaw was clenched in searing anger. Yami was looking more distraught, and so was Bakura, though he was trying to hide it. Marik was radiating anger out of him, shaking slightly from containing it and clutching Malik closer to him. Seto too was getting angrier, but it was faltering with anguish and …guilt. The feeling that it was all his fault was weighing more heavily upon him, making him feel sick.

The doctor continued, not knowing if the already distressed and broken group could take the last thing he had to say, but knowing that they deserved to hear it. He glanced quickly to Serenity and Mokuba, who had both managed to calm down into low sobs. They were too far away to hear him.

"He was also…Joseph has a lot of ripped anal tissue, showing that he was severely and violently repeatedly rapped…if he does wake up there is a high possibility that he will be emotionally scared and may not recover mentally for the rest of his life."

The colour drained from everyone's faces, and their eyes had gone wide. The doctor was slightly unnerved by the silence that had engulfed them. Then the floodgates really broke. If he thought they were crying before they were really crying now. Malik, Ryou and Yugi bawled into theirs lover's chests. Yami let tears fall from his eyes, but kept silent as he griped Yugi closer than should be possible. Duke sat down, looking like he was going to be sick at anytime. He cradled his head in his hands to calm down. Marik and Bakura too sat back down, dragging their smaller lovers with them. They didn't cry but the absolute anguish and shock they were feeling was clear for anyone to see. Seto stood there, not moving, looking like he was carved out of stone as the words struck him.

_Oh God No._ the feeling of guilt was almost suffocating him. _Why? Why? It was supposed to be me. Why?_

Mokuba came back and gripped onto his waist, the brunette looked down, his eyes glazed.

"Brother what's wrong? What happened to Joey?" his eyes were red and you could see the dry tear trails down his cheeks. Kneeling down Seto swept him into a tight embrace, startling the boy. The CEO didn't know why, but he just needed to hold someone at that moment, just needed someone to be there in silent understanding and his little brother presence had always calmed him. Glancing up quickly, he saw Serenity looking at them. He took her into his embrace as well, standing (or kneeling in Seto's case) much as they had when the kids had first escaped and made it back to Kaiba mansion.

A good ten or fifteen minuet's went by, in which tempers were quenched and tears were shed, before everyone was once again calm enough to sit in a tense silence. The doctor was still there.

"C-Can I see my brother?" the doctor looked down at the red-haired girl; she had detached herself from Seto's embrace and approached him in silence. "Please?" Serenity asked again.

"Yes you can see him, but I don't think he's awake."

"That's ok; I just want to see my brother."

"Ok" everyone stood and followed the doctor. He took them down a corridor and around the back of the emergency room into another hallway. He stopped at a door with stainless steel number reading 55B nailed to it, the gang was right behind him.

"He's in there, if he does wake up press the pager on the side of the bed and try not to exert him…I warn you, he's not a pretty sight." He motioned to the door and left the gang standing outside it.

Everyone seemed too nervous or scared to open the door. Getting annoyed and wanting to see the blonde, Seto pushed his way to the front of the group, griped the handle and walked through into the room.

The sight that met him stopped his long strides and made bile rise in his throat. There was Joey, the puppy, lying on a hospital bed. His skin, which had once had a light tan, was now deathly pale. His hair was greasy and wasn't the healthy sunshine gold that it had been, instead it had turned into an almost muddy brown colour. His lower leg was in a cast, as well as the whole of his arm. His chest was bandaged and you could see his ribs even through the thick white cloth. His skin seemed stretched over his face and upper body, showing that he had been starved. Other places over his body were covered in bandages and a few could be seen to have the first stains of blood seeping through. His lower half was covered so Seto couldn't see if the scars continued down there, he guessed they did.

Joey also had every tube imaginable stuck to his body and hooked to machines that surrounded his bed. The constant, Beep, Beep, Beep, could be heard from the one monitoring his heart. At least three drips were in him and a long tube was down his throat, helping him to breath. Other tubes and wires were around him and stuck to his body, measuring something on the machines they were attached to.

This couldn't be Joey…could it?

Sadly, it was, and Seto knew it. Everyone else nudged passed him to enter the room, pushing him to the side, but they too froze when they saw the state their friend was in. Seto didn't think anyone could shed anymore tears, but Serenity proved him wrong as they burst from her and began to run down her face as the girl ran and threw herself at her brother.

Shaking his shoulders as much as she could, Serenity cried for him.

"JOEY, JOEY. Pleas wake up, big brother. It's me Serenity. Joey, Joey, Big Brother, please…" she trailed off into a whisper and began sobbing, her head bowed to the bed and her brothers arm as she cried. Continued whispers of 'Joey', 'please' and 'big brother' could be heard coming from her as the rest of the gang slowly approached the bed.

Joey didn't wake up.

"Joey…" Yugi asked gently touching his best friends shoulder on the other side of the bed.

"Come on man, wake up!" said Tristan, trying to sound carefree and hopeful, but the cracking of his voice gave him away.

Bakura turned his head from the body on the bed. "Damn." Was all he said before swearing continuously under his breath in Egyptian. Malik still had his hands around his mouth from where he had gasped and flung them. He was wavering upon approach but was too nervous about seeing Joey closer to actually take the last two steps. Marik just stood by him, a blank look on his face. Mokuba was making soothing circles on Serenity's back, but he was looking at the blonde with such a pained expression it seemed that he might just break down next to her. Yami was standing by his lover, a comforting had on his shoulder as he continued to call for his friend, but his eyes were glazed in anguish. Ryou had had to turn away and buried himself into the, still cursing, Bakura's shoulder, still feeling fragile from crying and not having the courage right then to keep looking at his friend. Duke had frozen much like Marik, his face had gone slightly green and he really looked like he wanted to move but couldn't seem to move his legs to the door.

Seto still stood there, at the edge of the room. He wanted to call to Joey, wanted him to open his eyes and see that they were just the same as before. To give some sign that the body lying in the bed was the same feisty, fiery teen that he had teased and spared with verbally on so many occasions.

Serenity eventually stopped sobbing and looked back up at her brother, taking his hand, even though the fingers were tapped together with medical tape and the cast was getting in the way, she still squeezed it and gently started talking to her brother again.

"Joey, please wake up, I need you to wake up. Please tell me that you'll be ok. The men are gone now, you're safe. It's ok to wake up…please wake up."

"Joey, we're all here for you. You know that. Serenity's right, you're safe. Please Joey; we were all so worried about you, please." Yugi continued.

Malik finally got his feet to move and approached the bed, he didn't know of anything he could say that the others hadn't already, so he took the blondes other hand and squeezed it to show Joey that he was there for him. Marik followed and stood behind his lover.

"Come on Joey. You saved me, I've got to pay you back, I can't do that of you don't wake up. Please, you were always my friend, you treated me like a younger brother, wake up." Mokuba said quietly, wishing to give his own words of encouragement to the injured teen. He knew it was childish, but he was sure Joey could hear them and would come back when he heard their pleas.

Ryou brought his head out of his lover's chest and moved to the end of the bed. Still feeling too shocked to say anything; he simply looked on with tears eyes. Bakura wrapped his arms around him and brought his back to rest against his chest. Trying to comfort his lover and having a sudden urge to keep him close and allow nothing, like what had happened to the blonde, to happen to him.

"Come on man, wake up and laugh at us for all worrying so much. Give us that goofy grin and crack a bad joke; you know it hasn't been the same without them." Tristan stated, but he was faltering. His sadness and shock had been slowly pushed away by a blazing anger for the people who had put him through this. Other than the men who had physically hurt him, he blamed Kaiba. It was his fault that Joey had to go through this, it was him they wanted to hurt and instead it was Joey that had suffered. Knowing that the CEO was standing in the same room was making his anger grow even quicker.

Seto wanted to scream, he wanted to slap the blonde and demand he wake up. Say that everything would be alright. Wanted to hear him make some snappy remark about him worrying about 'The Mutt' wanted nothing more that to be able to comfort Joey. His pride stopped him as he thought of all the people in the room, and the words stuck to the inside of his throat.

Duke finally got his feet to move and fled out the room. He was ashamed of doing that instead of comforting his friend. He had never been good with things like this, but seeing Joey like that was just too much. Leaning back against the wall outside, he bent his head into his hands to try and rid himself of the sick feeling in his stomach.

"You ok?" he looked up to find Tristan standing by him. The brunette had followed his raven haired friend, feeling the need to calm down before his anger overcame him and he did something stupid.

"Yeah…I just…I never good with things like this. I don't mean to insult him."

"I know, its ok. You looked a bit green. Didn't think you were the kind of person to react like that though."

"I know, but Joey's…he's…I humiliated him." Duke tried to explain. "I humiliated and put him down in front of so many people, I even continued to do it for quite awhile. He still forgave me though; of course he gets annoyed if I bring it up, but he still forgave me and let me become his friend and everyone else's. That doesn't happen too often with me, not many put up with me long enough to forgive…You understand?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Joey's always been like that ever since I met him." The anger in Tristan was still there, but it was being put on a back burner as he talked about his friend. "He always willing to give people a chance. I bet he'll wake up and be more worried about us and how we've been doing than what happened to him. He never wants you to worry about his problems, he to selfless."

Duke nodded in agreement and the two teens stood in comfortable silence as they both thought about their blonde, goof-ball friend.

"Do you think you can go back?" Tristan asked. Duke thought a moment then nodded. They entered the room again to find it much as they had left it, with their friends holding Joey hands and talking to him, asking him to wake up.

They stayed there talking to the Joey about anything and everything they could think of. Laughing and wishing that the blonde would suddenly join in. It had been quiet without him. They left when they needed food or a drink, but soon returned to find that Joey still refused to open his eyes and acknowledge them. It was eight when they all decided to leave and come back the next day after school.

"But we can't, I'm staying." Stated Serenity when they tried to leave. Yugi, Yami, her and the Kaiba brothers were the only ones still in the room.

"We'll come back tomorrow Serenity, you need to sleep. Joey wouldn't want you getting ill from not sleeping properly." Mokuba tried to persuade. It was no use.

"No, I'm not leaving him."

"Serenity you have to, Mokuba's right, Joey wouldn't want you to do that." Yami cut in.

"But…but…what if he wakes up and no one's there. What…what if he's all alone and he…he…d-di" Seto couldn't take it anymore. He knelt down in front of the young girl and took her by the shoulders so she was forced to look him in the eye.

"He won't die." He stated simply. Shocking both Yami and Yugi as it had been the first thing the brunette had said since he saw Joey. "He won't die; you once told me he was strong. You shouted that he would be ok, and he will be. Joey is strong and he _will_ pull through this. Don't doubt your brother now Serenity."

Serenity looked to the CEO and nodded.

"Good. Now tell Joey that you'll visit him tomorrow and come back to the mansion. You need to sleep."

"But what of he does wake up and he's all alone." Sighing, Seto knew that there was only one way to comfort the girl and get her to go back to the mansion.

"He won't be alone. I'll stay here. I'm used to staying up all night anyway and I can catch up on the work I haven't done. Ok? Go home with Mokuba and sleep. You'll see Joey tomorrow."

"Ok." Mokuba took Serenity by the hand and led her out the room before she could protest further.

"…are you sure you're alright with that Kaiba." Yami asked. Seto stood up and addressed him.

"Yes, it fine. I wasn't joking when I said I'm used to staying up all night. I owe it to him anyway." he looked at the blonde with a slightly softer expression. "He did save my brother." With that he pulled the only chair across the room, next too, but at a reasonable distance from the bed and got comfortable. Yami nodded once, seeing that the brunette had made his decision and confident he would not break his word. He and Yugi were leaving when the shorter of the two turned round to address Seto for the last time.

"I just wanted to say… thanks Kaiba. I don't want Joey to wake up and be alone either. He's had to do that for far too long." With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Seto blinked for a moment, thinking of what the short teen had just said. Alone? Joey was alone? But he was surrounded by friends. As far as Seto knew everyone who knew Joey was at least on friendly terms with the blonde, apart from himself that was. How could Joey be alone?

Hesitantly he reached out and took the blondes un-injured hand in his own, gently interlacing his fingers with the sleeping youth. Sighing again, he looked to Joey's face, the guilt swelling in him along with the anguish of seeing the younger teen like he was. Squeezing his hand slightly he settled down for a night of worrying and listened to the continual beeping of the heart machine.

"…please wake up pup…you're not alone"


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The gang visited Joey the next day; again there were a few tears spilled and desperate pleas to the blonde to wake up. Serenity took to just sitting beside him for the whole day, only eating if food was presented to her. Mokuba made sure she was well fed and rested but there was little else he, or anyone else, could do for the poor girl. Seto went home and slept for half the day, returning with his laptop so he could work, and spending the nights awake with Joey. His friends would tell the blonde what had been happening at school and the rest of the world, but many times they would fall into a depressed silence through the lack of response from the sleeping teen.

This continued for several days, the doctors said that Joey was healing quickly and he was looking slightly better and less pale than when they first saw him. He was still being monitored by many machined but the tube going down his throat was removed as Joey no longer needed it to help him breath. Despite the doctors saying that his body was making excellent progress, Joey still didn't wake up.

Rowland and his team had questioned the two men as to where there companions had run off to, but Hyou and Lyon were only lowly thugs and didn't have much insight into where there acquaintances had gone. They had absolutely no idea who had employed them to kidnapped Joey. They were still looking of course, but the main concern for Seto and his team was that Joey had yet to awake.

It was the fifth day since Joey had arrived at the hospital when he finally opened his eyes. It was late and some of the gang had already left, Seto was there along with Mokuba and Serenity, letting them have their last few minutes with the blonde before ordering them home to bed. Yugi and Yami were also there, the former sleeping on the latter's lap. Ryou and Bakura had yet to go home to, Ryou was saying his last good byes to Joey, holding his hand and squeezing it gently. Bakura looked on with a blank expression which he had scolded onto his face.

"Come on Ryou, you're tired, you need to sleep. You've spent too much time awake worrying."

"Ok. Just a few more minutes." The petit albino asked his crimson eyed lover.

"You should say your good byes too you two, its time you went home to bed." Seto said, talking to Mokuba and Serenity.

"Ok. Joey…" said Mokuba.

_Some ones calling me._

"Joey…" started Ryou.

_Another one._

"…I'll visit you tomorrow Joey, promise." Mokuba continued.

"…I'm going home now; I'll talk to you after school." Ryou gently squeezed Joeys hand again.

_They're leaving._

"Try to wake up Joey; I still need to thank you for saving me." Mokuba pleaded.

_Wake up? ...But I'm not asleep…am I?_

"Please wake up Joey, everyone's missing you…even Bakura, though he won't admit it." Bakura 'humphed', but did nothing more to protest the statement.

_It's dark, why is it so dark? I don't want it to be dark. Wake up? They're telling me to wake up…how? How do I wake up?_

"Big brother…"

_That voice…_

"Please…"

_I know it._

"I miss you…"

_Serenity, it's Serenity. I need to get out of this darkness? How do I get out of this darkness? I want to see her._

"Please wake up…you said you'd take me to the beach, you promised. Don't you remember?"

_I remember._

"You needed to wake up so you can take me there, ok?" there was still no visible response from the blonde.

_Serenity! I need to wake up, wake up now. I need to open my eyes and wake up…but it's so hard and I'm so tired. Keep talking Serenity!_

Serenity and the others mood was forlorn as the blonde still reused to wake.

"I think it's time to go." Seto interjected into the silence softly.

The others nodded, Yami stood with Yugi still asleep and wrapped around him. Ryou looked at the sleeping teen one more time before releasing his hand and turning from the bed, his lover put a comforting arm around him. Mokuba took Serenity's hand and began pulling her gently away from the bed. Serenity looked at her friend quickly before looking back to her brother to give her final goodbyes for the day.

"I've got to go now…"

_You're leaving?_

"I'll see you tomorrow…"

_Don't leave!_

"Please, if you can, wake up. I love you." With that Serenity turned from the bed and the person lying on it, and began making her way towards the door.

_NO! Don't leave. I need to wake up. I've got to wake up. Wake up, wake up. Joseph Wheeler wake up and open your eyes, NOW!_

"Arger…"

Everyone in the room froze. Slowly and with caution they looked to everyone else in the room, looking for confirmation that it was them that made the barely audible sound they had just herd. Seto, seeing that everyone was looking around in confusion slowly turned his head to the sleeping blonde. There seemed to be no real difference, he looked the same as before. Apart from if you looked closely at his eyes, they were slightly tense, as if straining to open.

"Joey…" the brunette breathed, not quite sure if he was right. Upon hearing his remark all other eyes turned to the teen too. Serenity was the first to break the renewed silence, desperate for her brother and willing to cling to any hope that he may be awake no matter how fragile,

"Brother, Joey. Are you awake? Wake up, it's me! Serenity! Please wake up." she was begging like the first time she had seen him, only this time he heard. Joey's eyes tensed slightly more in the effort to open them, knowing he needed to, but it was so hard to break from the darkness. Gathering his strength, Joey opened his eyes by the tiniest bit.

Light! It was so bright, burning bright. It hurt, the darkness had been better, that hadn't hurt. With the burning whiteness blazing at him Joey wanted nothing more that to surrender to the darkness again…but he couldn't. Serenity was here, and she was calling.

"Joey, please, please…"

He opened his eyes more, the whiteness was still burning, but something was emerging from it. A hazy figure in a halo of soft, urban red.

"Please, please big brother. Wake up. Wake up…"

The figure was becoming less hazy; the halo of red became long flowing hair, atop a young pale face, and in the centre, jade coloured green eyes, brimming with the first signs of tears. Serenity!

Joey opened his eyes fully, the golden amber clear to the world once more, and smiled a small sweat smile at the crying girl above him.

Serenity saw her brother open his eyes, saw the glistening amber that had always held so much care and kindness whenever he looked upon her, saw him smile an almost invisible smile…and began to cry. Joey, her only brother, was awake.

The others in the room were not close enough to see the smile that Joey was gracing his sister with, but they could see that his eyes were open. Seto's heart leapt to his throat when he saw the familiar golden amber orbs slowly open. He was awake! Joey was finally awake!

The others looked on in silence, happiness that their friend was finally awake overwhelming them all, and freezing them to the spot. Unblinking, in case the blonde's eyes were to close again when they did.

"Joey, Joey, Joey, Joey…" Serenity was so happy, so overwhelmed with relief that she could do nothing but let the tears spill from her and repeat her beloved brother's name over and over again. Joey tried to speak; he wanted to reassure her, to say that he had escaped the darkness. That it was ok, that he hadn't forgotten his promise and would take her to the beach, but his throat was to dry. He could only let out a un-herd wheeze, but he still wanted to comfort his Sister.

Looking to his unbroken arm, he tried to move it. Desperately he willed a finger to move…it twitched. Increasing his concentration and trying again he focused on his hand and then his arm, moving it the first millimetre off the bed. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. His arm felt like led, like it was tied down with weights. He was so tired, so, so tiered, but he needed to do this.

Gathering more strength, his arm moved slowly, further away from the sheets, up from the bed, into the air and bending till his calloused hand rested on his beloved younger sister's cheek. He almost blacked out again from exhaustion, but willed himself to remain conscious. Serenity cried harder as Joeys hand came to rest on her cheek, she covered his own rougher hands with her smaller ones and held on for dear life.

Gently Joey ran his thumb along her cheek, in a feather light, loving caress only for Serenity. He smiled again, this time larger and with more strength. His eyes almost glowed with care and love for his only family, showing that even though he was battered and bruised he still held the same passion within him as before.

Exhaustion was taking over again, and slowly, ever so slowly he let his hand drop from Serenity's face and to the bed. Fluttering his eyes closed he fell into a different darkness from the one before. Not the darkness of un-consciousness but the warm shadows of a deep sleep. A smile still rested upon his face.


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

He was awake again, but his eyes were closed. His mind was searching, the voices of people he knew were around him but he didn't want to go to them yet. They turned to muffled noises in his mind as he took the time to lay there and remember who he was.

Joey slowly let his consciousness come to him. Letting his mind regain control of his body, letting the pain come, the feel of the plaster, the sheets he lay on, the disinfectant smell of the room, the rubbing of the hospital gown on his scared back and finally the voices and sights of his friends as he opened his eyes and emerged fully from his sleep.

At first it was blinding white again, burning, but he knew it would subside so he let the stinging whiteness lessen to a comfortable glow.

"Joey?" looking to his right, Joey found Yugi, his vertically challenged best friend, staring at him.

"Your awake!" the gently British voice of his other albino friend exclaimed from the end of his bed.

"Joey!" Two exclamations of delight from the eleven year olds to the left of his bed were heard by the blonde.

"Bout time you woke up man." That had to be Tristan, Joey thought. Though he must have been a bit away from the bed as Joey couldn't see him from his lying down position.

"Grrrrr, how dare you make Ryou worry?" That was undoubtedly Bakura; he would have laughed if his throat wasn't so dry.

"Hay, say something!" Malik?

"You've had us on the edge of our seats and you won't even say anything, that's just…that's just…rude." Yep. Definitely Malik, only he would be able to think so crazily but politely at the same time. Maybe he _should_ try and speak though.

"Wah…wa...erggg." ok, that didn't work.

"Huh." Yugi again.

"Wah…wa-wat…errrrrr." Damn, why couldn't he get his voice to work? He wanted to say hi to Yugi, tell Tristan that he was impatient as always, sarcastically apologies to Malik for being rude, and do the same to Bakura about worrying Ryou. Tell Ryou that, yes, he was alright, make sure that Mokuba was ok and most importantly, comfort his sister and tell her he loved her and that everything would be alright. Why couldn't they just figure out that he need some water? His friends were the best, but sometimes they were lacking in the common sense department.

"He wants some water." A sharp, icy voice clipped. Kaiba? What was Kaiba doing here? Joey had no idea why his rival would be visiting him in the hospital, probable cause Mokuba was there? At least he'd get his water.

"Oh, right! I'll go get some." Yugi flew out the room and returned moments later with a glass of water in hand. He helped lift Joey's head as he drank. The water was drained in a matter of minutes.

"Thanks Yug'." Joey spook for the first time, his voice still felt a bit rusty though. "You couldn't help me sit up, could ya buddy?"

There was a momentary silence as the bed was manoeuvred into a sitting up position and Joey got comfortable once more. The blondes amber gold eyes took in the room. In many respects it was like any other hospital room, machines beeping, white walls and clean. Joey noted Yugi and Yami standing to his right, Ryou and Bakura were at the end of his bed, Malik and, Marik were just to the right of them. Kaiba was standing far in the left corner, looking at Joey with a guarded and icy expression, Tristan was to Joeys left and Mokuba and Serenity were practically climbing on the bed in their eagerness to embrace him.

Joey smiled warmly at his sister, his glowing life line in the darkness. She looked at him, green eyes practically sparkling with happiness.

"Hello Serenity. You didn't miss me did you?"

"Big brother!" Serenity did, finally, climb on the bed and launched herself at Joey's chest, crushing him in a hug.

"Owfffff…hey…some of us are injured here." Joey exclaimed as she landed on his ribs.

"Oh, sorry." Serenity pulled away slightly, but Joey used his working arm to pull her close once again. Holding on to the small red head a bit more than necessary, longing for the physical contact to banish the rest of the darkness that was still within him, the doubt that all of this wasn't real and he would wake up back in his cell, bloody and battered like before.

"I'm so happy to see you." The blonde looked to the rest of his friends, still holding tightly to his sister, who in return, held him tightly in an embrace of her own.

"Sooooo…how is everyone?" with that, they all started talking. Questions were being asked, angry exclamations were being shouted out, thank yous' were being given and it was, overall, a bombardment of utter noise.

"STOP! ...right…one at a time, I don't need to be deaf as well as hospitalized, shesh."

"Oh, Joey. Are you alright?" Yugi and Ryou asked, both concerned about their friend and just inching to fuss all over him.

"Guys, I'm fine" Joey winced as he bent his broken arm slightly "sore, but fine. So stop fussing. You know how I hate it." The blonde finished. Convincing his friends with a grin, looking very much like the old Joey. Yugi and Ryou looked to each other, as well as their lovers, not entirely sure that Joey was anywhere near as 'ok' as he said, but they were willing to drop the subject.

"It's good to see you man."

"Hay Tris', good to see you too, just as bigger think head as always. Glad nothing changed while I was gone." Joey said, smiling all the while.

"…Your lucky your bed ridden." The brunette glared threateningly at his friend, but the laughter in his eyes gave him away. They were carefully scooting around the subject that Joey was kidnapped, Mokuba decided to bring up it up though.

"Hay, Joey?" the blonde teen looked to the young raven haired boy by his bed.

"Yeah kid?"

"I just wanted to say…well you know…" Mokuba was angry at himself, he had wanted to thank Joey for so long and know he couldn't seem to find the words. How did you thank some one that saved your life and suffered unimaginably because of it?

"Thank you."

Joey stared at him for a moment, blinking several times, not sure what the kid was thanking him for. Then he figured it out, and smiled warmly at the boy. Not one of his 'stupid goof-ball grins' but a pure genuine smile that seemed to light up the whole room.

"Don't motion it."

So no one did. They continued to talk, telling Joey what he missed, what funny things had happened during the week, how worried they had been and this time knowing that the blonde could here every word they said. Duke visited latter and then started to fuss over the blonde when he saw he was awake, like a mother hen, which scared quite a few of the gang, before Joey lost it and practically demanded that he return to being a snotty bastard. Seto kept tactfully silent throughout the whole thing.

Now it was late, Joey had said he was tired and had fallen into another sleep, the nurses had taken his vitals and ushered everyone out of the room and to their own homes for the night. Serenity had claimed that she would stay up with her brother but when she had fallen asleep in his arms he had gently handed her to Yami to take back to the mansion with Mokuba to sleep. Seto had been slightly surprised when he felt no hesitation in handing his spiky haired rivals the keys to his mansion. He had to finally, and reluctantly, admitted to being their friend.

Joey was lying on the bed, his eyes closed and his face peaceful. A few of the machines had been taken of the teen, along with the annoying heart machine, making the room almost eerily quiet for the CEO sitting in the chair by the bed. Truthfully, there was no reason for him to be there, Joey had woken up and was now asleep. He didn't need someone looking over him anymore.

Perhaps he had stayed so that he could talk to the blonde without the others being there, but what was he planning on saying to him anyway? What do you say to someone that you used to appear to hate, only to find that he almost sacrificed his life for your one and only brother, that there really were no reasons for you to hate him in the first place and that your feelings of hatred really weren't the same or as deep as you thought? Seto reflected that most of the time it had been 'him' to first engage the blonde in their verbal battles. That without his jibs Joey would of quiet happily of ignored him and gone on his merry way. That he looked forward to the arguments and the blonde teen who occupied them with an almost fondness.

Joey was looking better, and he seemed to be recovering his strength well. It wouldn't be long till all the machines were of him and he only had his casts and cuts left. The hospital had given Joey his first meal of soup when he had complained to his friends, almost instantly, that he was hungry. Everyone had laughed at that. He would still be unable to move much for a while, seeing as he had a broken ankle and his broken arm stopped him from using crutches, but with his strength back Joey would be able to leave the hospital. The question hit Seto like a punch in the stomach. Where was he going to go?

Serenity had said that his mother and father were divorced and by the sound of it, Joey didn't get on with his mother. What about his father? He hadn't visited Joey in the hospital. Had anyone even contacted him? Serenity said she hadn't seen him in years…was it possible that Joey lived alone? Seto hadn't noticed that during his inner questioning he had been staring at the same blonde that had invaded his thoughts.

"See something you like?"

The brunette was startled by the voice. Seeing that one of the blonde's eyes were open sleepily and looking at him with a small mischievous smile on his lips He glared.

"No mutt, I was just thinking. Something I am sure you aren't familiar with."

What was he doing? This person had saved his brother, almost dies because of someone that wanted to get to _him_ and was someone who he had come to find he actually might…like, and he was insulting him like the scum of the earth.

"I'm not a mutt." Joey shot back, but the teen only appeared to of said it out of habit as it was lacking in the intense anger that used to be there before.

"Why are you still here anyway?"

"I…" Seto looked away, frustrated, when he realized that he too didn't have an answer to that question.

Joey looked at the young CEO, he hadn't said anything throughout his chat with his friends, but Yugi had told him that Seto stayed with him at night, so that he wouldn't wake up alone. He found that he was inspecting him much more closely than he had in the past two years of knowing him.

He noticed the stress lines around the edges of his eyes and forehead, noticed the way his eyes intensified with thought and how, if you looked deep enough, emotion could be seen beneath the icy shell, right now they were showing slight frustration, presumable at not being able to answer the question of why he was still there. What Joey noticed most though, was the slightly duller colour of the normal crystal clear blue, the almost invisible redness around his eyes and the dark circles that hung underneath them, his hair, dishevelled and out of place. All in all, the brunette had the signs of someone lacking in sleep and tired of fighting against something bigger than himself.

"I guess you are the one who's been looking after Serenity for the past week and a bit." Said Joey, breaking the silence.

"Hmmmm, how did you figure that out?" said Seto, glad for the change of subject.

"Well, she only really knows Yugi and Yami, and then Mokuba. Yug's place is crowded as it is though, and I know you live in a big ass mansion, plus the fact she left with Mokuba. I kind of pieced it together that it was you who had been looking after her." Joey finished, shocking the brunette. Seto turned away, not sure what to say and the silence once again returned.

"Joey…" the blondes head snapped up to the use of his first name."…thanks" Seto finished lamely.

Joey stared for a moment, blinked once and then gave one of his soul warning smiles.

"Don't mention it." He repeated. Another silence fell on the room, but it was different from the one before. Instead of an intense awkwardness there was a companionable calm, that of two friends just comfortable in each other's presence. It should have been strange for them but to both occupants surprise, it wasn't. Seto was pondering this when the soft snoring of the blonde caught his attention. Looking over, he once again found Joeys head laid sideways on the pillow his body relaxed and his face once again looking innocent to the horror the brunette knew he'd been through.

"Thank you Joey…and…I'm sorry."

Later in life Seto would swear he heard the blonde utter 'don't mention it' before he allowed himself the pleasure of sleeping where he sat, next to Joey, for the first time.


	17. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Seto would leave in the morning, and Mokuba and Serenity would stay with Joey during the day. Serenity had a few weeks off school thanks to her visit to Japan, her mother still wasn't coming back from her business trip in Tokyo for half a week so she had all the time in the world to spend with her brother. Mokuba hadn't wanted to go back to school until they found Joey and Seto had agreed that he could continue to take the week off before term brake started, so the raven haired boy accompanied Serenity to see her brother daily.

The rest of the gang had to continue to go to school for another week until term break but they visited Joey every afternoon. Seto would arrive later in the evening and stay with the blonde while he slept. They would talk about anything, school, music, sport, politics and much more until leaving hours. None of them brought up the subject of Joey's kidnap and what he had been through, simply stating that they were glad he was back and ok. Joey seemed happy to avoid the subject of his captor. Everyone was slightly relived by that.

This routine continued for several days, the doctors said that Joey was getting better exceptionally fast and that he would be able to go home soon but would have to keep the plasters on for a bit longer. Joey had light up at that, the gang had soon found out that the blonde teen did not like hospitals. The question of where Joey was going to stay still hung in the air.

It was for this reason that the hospital phoned Joey's mother.

Mokuba and Seto were in Joey's room, Mokuba was chatting animatedly to the blonde while Seto would sometimes nod or shake his head when his brother asked his opinion. Serenity was with them too, but had gone off to get a drink only a few minutes ago. It came as a great surprise to all the boys when she flew through the door and into her brother's arms, crying.

"I don't want to go, I don't want to go. I want to stay here. Don't make me go…" she continued to wail. Joey wrapped his unbroken arm around his little sister in a comforting embrace, confused by what she was saying.

"We won't make you go Serenity. Come on, you know that. What's all this about?" he asked, his voice calm to try and relax the small girl. Serenity looked pleadingly up at her brother, with tears in her emerald green eyes.

"She-she wants to take me back, but I don't want to go. I want to stay with you big brother. Make it so I can stay."

"Who wants to take you back, Serenity?" said Joey, still not grasping the situation. Both Kaiba brothers looked on in surprise and confusion at the girl's antics.

Serenity took several calming breaths and was going to answer her brother, when the door to the room crashed open. Seto and Mokuba almost got whiplash from turning their heads so fast. Joey, from his position on the bed didn't have to turn to see whom it was standing in the doorway. His eyes widened in shock and understanding, gripping his sister closer, he glared at the new comer.

"What do _you_ want?" venom was dripping from the blonde. In the doorway stood a woman, with shoulder length brown hair and sharp, judging hazel eyes. She was dressed formally in a normal gray suite and not a crease was to be seen anywhere on it. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and her eyes sharpened in annoyance. Ignoring Joey, she looked to the small red head in his arms.

"Serenity! Let go this instance, we're going home. Leave him here, _now!" _The command was given to the young girl and the woman's eye twitched when the girl just clung tighter to her brother.

"I don't want to, I want to stay here with big brother" Serenity continued to wail.

"NO. You will come now. Your brother can't look after you; he's just as useless as his father. Nothing more than a street thug with a sharp mouth" she took three purposeful steps into the room ad stood by Joey's bed. The blonde glared at her for all he was worth. Seto and Mokuba looked on, not sure if they should intervene when it was obvious he woman was Joey's and Serenity's mother and that this was something family related.

Seto felt a flare of anger as the woman called Joey nothing more than a street thug. How dare she do that? Joey had saved his brother. The anger soon faded as a wave of guilt crashed into him. Hadn't he told the blonde the exact same thing? Hadn't he been the one calling Joey useless? Hadn't he thought that Joey was, and never would be, more than a stupid street fighter?

"Serenity let go! You are coming with me and we are going home." The red heads mother grabbed her by her upper arm and pulled the eleven-year-old from Joey's embrace. The teen tried to hold on, but with only one arm Serenity was soon wrenched from his grasp.

"NO!" Joey shouted as she was begging to be pulled away. Serenity began crying and bawling about wanting to be with her brother, holding onto the hospital bed and trying desperately to stop her mother from dragging her out of the room.

"I don't want to. I like it here. Why do you have to take me? Big brother!"

"Be Quiet." Serenity's mother shouted, pulling the girl from the hospital bed and to the door.

"I hope you're happy." Joey didn't shout, he was too angry to. His voice was nothing more than a whisper, but it was enough to send a shiver down Seto's and Mokuba's spine. The woman in the door way stopped abruptly.

"…I hope your happy" he repeated "making our own daughter cry, separating your family. Not listening to anyone but following your own big head. You're just a selfish person who can't stand not being the centre of attention. Then you go and wonder why everyone doesn't dote on you."

The slap was so hard that it sent Joeys whole body flying to the side. There was a crash as fell out the hospital bed, any machines still attached were ripped from him and the IV stand fell loudly to the floor. The blonde cried out as his healing ribs were jolted, his broken arm falling limply at his side.

Seto and Mokuba stood rooted to the spot and Serenity stopped crying from the shock of what had just happened. There was a short silence from everyone in the room as they tried to absorb what had just taken place. The spell was broken however, when Joey's mother started screaming.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT! Serenity almost died because of you. Do you understand what they could have done to her? And you dare to call me selfish, when you're nothing more than a useless low life thug, that won't achieve anything just like their father? You should have just died and saved people from having to breathe the same air as a filthy mutt like you"

Another wave of intense guilt managed to bombard Seto in his shocked state. All those times he had called Joey 'Mutt', or 'worthless' just to get a rise out of him, just because it was fun to see his eyes burn with fire, and his mother had called him the very same things, meaning every single one of them. Just how much had he hurt the blonde over the years?

"It's nice to see you too _Mum." _Joey said back, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"_You._ Are. _Not_. My. Son. I don't want to _ever_ have to see you again, and don't even think about coming near Serenity. I never want you to see her again either, and influence her with your filth." Spinning on her heal she grabbed the still shocked Serenity and pulled her from the room.

"We're leaving." Was the last thing she did, before slamming the door on both Kaiba brothers and her son.

Joey stared at the door, not moving from his sprawled out position on the floor. No one said anything. Seto was the first to recover himself and noticing Joey was still on the floor he moved to help him.

"Joey?" he asked, kneeling down to the blonde and softly touching his upper arm "we need to get you back on the bed. Can you try and stand?" the teen slowly turned his head to look in the CEOs cerulean eyes, his face slack and expressionless. Nodding his head once, the blonde moved with heavy limbs, letting the brunette help him as he pushed himself up with his one good arm. Lifting Joey to his feet, Seto manoeuvred him back into the bed. Feeling just how thin the teen was and cursing in his head at how light the blonde felt.

"Come on Joey." He muttered quietly. Joey settled back into bed and continued staring at the ceiling absently. Mokuba was about to question his friend when the door opened a second time and a nurse, with a concerned expression, and exceptionally white clothes came in.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, looking to Seto. "I was on my way here and saw a woman with the young girl that normally visits Mr. Wheeler, is something wrong?"

Seto looked at her and quickly glanced at the blonde, when Joey just continued to stare he shook his head.

"No nothing's wrong. Are you here for the rounds?"

"Yes" she cheered up visibly "if all is well we believe that Mr. Wheeler will be able to go home tomorrow. He will need someone looking after him for a while, but I'm sure his parents won't mind doing that"

Seto once again looked to the blonde when he gave no verbal response about his parents or being ignored by the nurse. The teen genius was just wondering what to say, when his brother said it for him.

"I don't think…I mean…I don't think that Joey lives with his parents." Mokuba interjected quietly. "There won't be anyone at home to look after him."

"Oh, well I'll check, but I'm sure he must live with someone. So don't worry." The nurse said cheerfully. Mokuba clearly gave her a look that said 'don't patronize me' and 'I'm not stupid, or at least I'm a whole lot smarter than you' Seto was quite proud of his brother for pulling that off.

The nurse cleaned the room and took Joeys vitals, frowning slightly when she saw the messed up machines. The brothers were quiet and Joey continued to stare into space, his eyes glassy and hollow, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Both Kaibas' were slightly unnerved by this, but didn't see anything they could do. Leaving the room with the nurse, Seto glared at her until she left and then turned to his brother.

"Seto, that was Joeys mum, wasn't it?" asked Mokuba, knowing it was but wishing for his older brother to deny the truth. Sadly, he didn't.

"Yes, that's what I figured."

"…she hit him" the raven haired boy continued, concern and disbelief shining in his starlight gray eyes "she called him worthless and said he wasn't her son. Why would she do that?"

"I don't know Mokie" said the older brunette, placing a comforting hand on his brothers shoulder.

"And she called him filthy…why? Joey's one of the nicest people I know, he always putting others before himself. How come he's so alone?" Seto's squeezed his shoulder tighter in comfort but didn't answer. Mokuba seemed to take a few moments to gather himself, trying not to cry over his friend.

_Joey's all alone. _Seto thought. _His mother seems to hate him and his father hasn't visited him. I don't think anyone even knows where his father is actually, and, and…and he's all alone…I always thought his life would be perfect…guessed he proved me wrong. _

The CEO was getting concerned for the blonde. Injured and not having anyone to look after him when he left the hospital what would he do? His friends would be willing to help, he knew, but all of them had their own problems. Yugi's place had been cramped ever since Yami started living with him. Ryou's dad wouldn't really want another person living with his son and Seto doubted that Joey would get the rest he needed with Bakura in the same house. Malik's and Marik's was out of the question and Tristan had three older sisters. If Duke acted anything like he did when he first saw the blonde, he'd probably turn Joey insane. No, Joey couldn't stay with them.

_He wouldn't let himself anyway; he'd think he was burdening them and refuse their help, he's stupid like that._

The idea was like ice water running down his back. Joey could stay at the mansion.

_No! Joey couldn't do that. _Seto tried to reason.

_Yes, he could. _A small voice argued in his mind.

_No he couldn't. _Seto argued back.

_Yes he could, and you know it._

_But he wouldn't want to. We're enemies, remember._

_You don't really think that, admit it. You like arguing with him, you enjoy it._

_No. I don't. And he still couldn't stay_

_Why not, you have the room. He saved your brother's life. You owe it to him._

_But…but…_Seto stumbled over his words, trying desperately to find a reason why the blonde couldn't stay, and not really knowing why he was arguing with a voice that was obviously in his head and didn't exist.

Then the worst thing that could happen to him happened. His brother, his beloved, adorable, would-die-for-him-at-any-minuet younger brother, looked up at him with puppy dog eyes and a trembling lip, tears threatening to form in his gray orbs, and asked one question.

"Seto? ...Could Joey stay with us?" the brunette gulped, and tried with all his might to resist, but it was no use.

His fate was sealed.

He nodded.


	18. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The younger of the two Kaiba brothers slowly reopened the door to Joey's room. Approaching the still unmoving blonde he placed his hand on the older teen's unbroken one, Seto took a few steps into the room and stood on the other side of the bed to his brother. When the blonde didn't notice Mokuba holding his hand in a death grip the raven haired boy looked up to his older brother in uncertainty.

"Joey?…" Mokuba tried. No reply came

"…are you listening?" still no response. The eleven year old began to look even more desperate.

"Mutt!" The CEOs stated, almost shouting in irritation at the blonde ignoring their presence. Slowly, Joey turned his head a fraction to the side, taking his gaze from the door. Moving his eyes the honey orbs came to stare into the brunettes own deep blue ones. Seto almost gasped at the dead and defeated look that haunted the normally lively and animated blonde teen. He too was beginning to feel concerned about his odd behaviour, but being the CEO he was Seto hid his discomfort and continued on in the same loud and demanding voice.

"Mokuba has brought it to my attention that you may not have anyone to look after you at home, is this true?" Joey stared at him for a long moment, trying to let the words sink in and form a sentence in his mind. With the same agonizing slowness as before he nodded his head a fraction to the brunette.

"Didn't think so. You're being discharged from here later today, when that happens you will come to Kaiba mansion. I will have room set up for you and people there will be able to accommodate your needs. Before you do, I want to make it clear that I am doing this only because you saved Mokuba and he wants you to stay." Behind the blonde Mokuba frowned at his elder brothers words, but didn't interrupt as Joey seemed to be listening.

"So you will stay at the Kaiba mansion…if that is ok?" Seto uncertainly added at the end. The usual Joey would have jumped at the chance to snap at him for being nice, and then promptly accuse Seto of being abducted by aliens since he was acting so differently. This Joey however, barley seemed to hear what he was saying. He still asked though, because despite the fact that Joey was obviously not ok, Seto didn't want him to be forced to do anything against his will. He'd been through enough of that.

Another silence followed as the blonde processed the words, he nodded numbly again and then turned back to the door, staring at it like he had beforehand and completely ignoring both of the Kaiba brothers.

Mokuba was still squeezing Joeys hand but he was looking to his older brother to tell him that his friend would be alright. Seto saw this but didn't answer the silent question, not sure of the answer himself. Instead he pulled out his phone and speed-dialled the mansion while walking towards the door.

"I'm going call the mansion and tell Rowland to set up a room for Wheeler, and then I'm going to go there and check it's ok myself, before finishing off the rest of my work. I'll pick you up later if you want?" the brunette addressed his brother from the door way. The eleven year old took one last look at his vacant blonde friend before telling Joey good bye, and giving an awkward, comforting hug to the teen before walking past his brother out of the hospital room.

"It's ok, I'll come with you. I want to make sure they have some stuff to keep him busy as he won't be able to move for a while." Mokuba said to his brother, sounding far older than his age. Seto nodded, ruffled his hair and quietly closed the door. Both Kaiba brothers left the hospital in a whirl of trench coats and long black hair. Back in the white room, Joey continued to stare at the door.

Later that day the room had been set up in the Kaiba mansion and Joey's friends had been contacted and told about his living arrangements, they had also been told about the scene witnessed by the Kaibas of Joey's mum taking Serenity away. Many times they had tried to contact Serenity but with no luck. Seto made a note to look for her whereabouts, but right now he was more focused on her elder blonde brother.

Visiting hours were over and Yugi and Yami, the last of the gang, were just leaving. They had tried, along with all the others, to get Joey to talk to them in the few hours they had been there, but they had not succeeded. As the door closed Seto and Mokuba were once again left with the silent blonde. A nurse arrived with a wheelchair and motioned to Seto to help her lift the teen from the hospital bed. Joey seemed absent as he followed the nurse's instructions and allowed the brunette to lift him into the wheelchair. He showed no excitement as he left the hospital and didn't gaze in wonder as he was moved into the shiny black limo that was to take them to the Kaiba mansion. Both the CEO and the raven haired boy were extremely worried, but like his friends, they didn't succeed in getting a reaction out of the teen. The fact that something was '_wrong_' was strong in the air.

A gloomy silence descended onto the mansion as the vacant blonde was placed upon his new bed by Rowland and turned his head to stare out the window. His eyes glazed and obviously not taking in the scenery that lay beyond the glass. Seto looked to his long time bodyguard and friend, conveying his worry and concern in a single glance. His feelings were mirrored by the broad man but no answer as to why the teen was like this was given. Mokuba slowly approached Joey's bed, hoping that he would be noticed but Joey didn't turn his head from the window.

"Joey, this is your new room. Sorry, but you'll have to stay in bed most of the time, but there's a T.V and Yugi brought your duelling deck" nothing but silence "…there's some books, cards, magazines and other stuff if you want them?...If you need anything, like you're hungry, just call and someone will hear you. There's a buzzer next to the bed if these is an emergency or someone doesn't come straight away. Ok?... ...I'm going to go now and let you settle in."

The eleven year old walked with his head haning low in sadness at the lack of recognition from his friend. Seto spared one last look at the blonde whose mind was absent and eyes vacant as he looked away before following his brother out of the room, Rowland came behind him and shut the door with a soft click.

Silence remained for a while.

"Why is he like that?" Mokuba was the first to ask what they were all thinking.

"I don't know" replied his older brother, placing his hand on the other boys head and absently ruffling his raven hair, lost in his own thoughts.

"It could be shock. I've seen people like this before. They come through a traumatic experience but the shock of what has happened doesn't catch them up till much later. It could be that…but…" stated Rowland, trailing off.

"You don't think so, do you?" asked Seto

"No, it is possible and it does happen, but…it slightly different, this feels like something else. Did anything happen that could of caused this while he was at the hospital?"

"Joey's mother" answered Mokuba, turning from his brother to Rowland. "She took Serenity away… and called him worthless; she said it was his entire fault. She…she hit him too."

"That could be it. It's wrong that she did so, but I don't think his mother hitting him would cause a person like Mr. Wheeler to go into…the state he's in now. I didn't visit him much in the hospital but from what I have seen he's a strong lad. Maybe it was the loss of his sister, it could have triggered something and he seemed to care deeply for her."

Seto nodded his agreement.

"But we haven't been able to contact Serenity since she went with her mum" stated Mokuba sadly.

"I'll set up a search for her"

"I have already done that and they haven't come back with any info yet. Even if they do, we can't do much. Serenity's legal guardian is her mother, if she disagrees that Joey has no right to see her then there is nothing we can do" the young CEO said.

"You're right…I'm going to check on the men, see if they've come up with anything else about where the men that kidnapped Mr. Wheeler and Master Mokuba have gone" with that Rowland left the two Kaiba brothers alone once again.

"Seto?...Do you think Joey will be alright?" the brunette looked into the eyes of his baby brother for a few seconds, seeing the undisguised fear and uncertainty about his friend. He couldn't show that he had his own doubts about if the blonde teen would be ok, couldn't show that he was just as uncertain. He had to be strong for his brother.

"I'm sure he'll be ok." Seto said, ruffling Mokuba's hair properly this time and forcing a small smile "like Rowland said, Wheelers tough, it'll take more than this to get through his thick head." The raven haired boy nodded slowly, still uncertain, before turning and running up the stairs to his room. Seto walked through the mansion and into one of the many living rooms. Collapsing on the couch, he sighed and flung his right arm over his eyes to block out the lights, thoroughly exhausted.

Honey orbs gazed out the window, the night sky black and starless through the glass.

_They took her._

An owl hooted as it caught it's pray; the blonde heard the startling sound but did not stir.

_She's gone._

The room was dark, the lights switched out, nothing could be seen clearly in the darkness. Still, the teen sat.

_Gone forever._

Someone moved in the hall outside, light streamed through the crack in the door, but no one entered.

_Taken again._

The light cast half shadows in the room, sun kissed blonde hair shimmered. Silhouettes of furniture were revealed, shadows casting into the silent room.

_It's dark. So dark. She's gone. She's not coming back._

A constricted cough was heard by no one as the small sound escaped from the chapped teens dry lips.

_Oh, God. She'd not coming back. It's so dark, so dark._

The sound of footsteps could be heard outside the door, still no one entered.

_Black, dark._

The sound of footsteps stopped and the lights turned out.

_NO. It's darker, no light. She's gone, she's not here. Dark, dark, so dark. Help!_

With another hoot the owl in the darkness left.

_Help! HELP! No ones left to listen. No one can hear. Why won't someone come? Help. She's gone, it's dark. Help!_

Silence was all that was heard. The ridged blonde teen still sat in darkness, his eyes widened in fear and pleading, turning slowly from the window he gaze ahead of him into the darkness.

_No one's here._

A small whimper passed the parched throat.

_I'm all alone._

A shattering, agony filled scream ripped through the darkness, the wails echoing from wall to wall.

Seto jumped in fright and almost dropped the glass of water he held in his hand. Turning on his heal, he stalked quickly back down the stairs, placing his glass of water back on the kitchen counter he ran to Joeys room where the cries were coming from. Opening the door, he turned on the light. Seto's eyes widened at the sight in front of him.

Joey was curled up on the bed, burying his face in his hands as he wept, and rocking back and forth. The casts on his chest and ankle were making it hard for him to curl up fully. The blonde was still wailing, crying out in agony and shouting into the night.

"She's gone. She's gone…It's dark, so dark. Make it go away…Go away. Please, it's dark…Oh, God she's gone." And so he continued.

Seto's body moved of its own accord, swiftly walking to and sitting on the bed. His arms reached out and pulled the sobbing teen close, his head tucked under the brunettes chin. The CEO held the blonde in a protective embrace and made soothing circles on his back, gently rocking a cooing at Joey, much like he did with his little brother when he had nightmares.

"Shhhhh, shhhh, it's alright. It'll be alright. What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong. Look, it's not dark anymore. There's nothing to fear, shhhhhh. It's ok." Seto continued to sooth, in soft voice not thought to be possessed by the brunette. Tears were wetting his black silk pyjama top, but he took no notice. Joey clung to him with his one good had, gripping the material tightly. His cast arm had been thrown around the CEO's back and was futilely trying to hold on to him as well.

"They took her, they took her. She's gone"

"Who's gone?" Seto asked again, still rubbing the boys back as he whispered the question gently in the smaller teen's ear.

"They took her, she's not coming back. She's never coming back."

"Who? ...Is it Serenity" sound echoed once again throughout the mansion as Joey cried in torment. The tears that had been slowing came back full force, the sobs physically shaking his whole body.

"She's gone. Why? Why? Why did she have to go? It's so dark, so dark. Bring her back. It's so dark."

"Shhhhhhhh, you'll see her again, don't worry. It's not dark, the lights are on, see?" The blonde franticly shook his head in the brunette's chest.

"No, she's not coming back, she's never coming back. I won't see her again…and it's so _dark_."

"You _will _see her again" Seto said with conviction, pulling the blonde closer if possible. It should have been strange for him to be holding Joey in his arms, comforting him, but for some reason it felt completely right, completely natural to the brunette. As if he had be caring for the blonde his whole life.

"You'll see her again. I'll make it happen…I promise." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, but the teen calmed slightly in his arms.

"Really? You'll bring her back. I can see her again?" the brunette nodded sharply, the blonde didn't see the gesture but he felt it. Tears still poured from him and a slight shaking began wracking his body.

"But it's dark. There's no light when she's gone. How can I live when it's so _dark_? Who do I hold on to, who's going to give me light."

"I will." Again the words were out before the CEO could stop them. He stiffened as he realised what they meant. The blonde in his arms stopped shaking, and sat still in his embrace. Not looking up he mumbled into the brunette's chest.

"You will?"

"…Yes. You can stay with me, hold on to me. I…I won't leave you. You won't be alone…There's no need to fear the dark." The words were hesitant but said with conviction. Seto had no idea what he was getting into or what he was doing, but the smaller teen needed to hear it.

Joey gripped the front of his shirt tighter, if that was possible, the CEO continued to rock and rub his back, making soothing noises as he shed the last of his tears and gently fell into sleep.

When he was sure that Joey was asleep Seto carefully laid him back down on the bed and tried to removed the hand from his still damp shirt. There was a whine of fear from the blonde.

"Don't go…" was mumbled in his sleep. Leaning down to whisper into his ear, Seto finally removed the teen's hand.

"Don't worry; I will be here when you wake up. You won't be alone. Now sleep" Joey relaxed again and Seto placed his hand comfortably at his side. Walking quietly to the door way he turned off the light.

The brunette stayed looking at where the blonde lay, his face faintly distinguishable in the darkness. There was no scream at the lack of light, no cry of agony, simply a little sigh as Joey fell further into sleep. Satisfied that the blonde was ok, and wouldn't have any more panic attacks Seto left, closing the door behind him. Retrieving the glass of water from the kitchen he headed back up the stairs, in the semi darkness of the mansion, to his room.

Wondering what on earth had just happened.


	19. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

It was light when Joey awoke, the window letting the light and heat of the morning sun into the room. At first he was pressed to remember everything that happened, but eventually patches of memory came back. The blonde closed his eyes in tired pain as he remembered how his sister was taken from him, reliving the memory and trying not to cry. He was depressed about the matter, his sister had meant a lot to him before, but she had come to mean so much more in the last couple of weeks and an empty space was left where her smile used to be.

Despite this, Joey found himself being able to move past the sadness, words of comfort resounding in his ear. It was then that he remembered the dream from last night. It had to have been a dream, for no one had held him that way since he was five. The teen recalled a stranger cradling him, rocking him back and forth and making soothing circles on his back as he cried desperately into his chest, letting his agony, insecurities and fear all be known to the person holding him in his arms. They had spoken patiently to him, quelled his tears, and said that they would be there for him, that they would not leave him alone. Joey had heard the conviction in the deep voice that he had believed every single one of its promises.

He could not remember the face of the person who held him for he did not look up from their chest where his tears had spilled. He slightly regretted doing that but he remembered the stranger having strong arms and broad shoulders, even if they were slightly thin. Even though the blonde knew it had all been a dream, he took comfort in the imaginary arms and soothing words. Allowing them to help him move passed the sadness off realising he had lost his sister for a second time.

Opening his eyes, Joey made careful movements, wincing when his delicate ribs stretched slightly and sat up. He surveyed the room with dull surprise, not willing to move from the well lit, well decorated, warm room that he was residing in. Though he did not know where that room was. The cream curtains were drawn away from the window, letting the sun that had woke him stream dazzlingly onto the queen-sized bed which he sat on. The duvet was the same cream colour, but the walls were a light blue. The furniture, which consisted of a wardrobe, a stack of draws, a bed side table, a shelf, a chair and couch where all made of a light wood that left the room feeling refreshed. The couch, cushion on the chair and pillows were a darker, more solid blue to the walls but still plain with no added designs. Overall it was a simple, warm room with a calming atmosphere.

The teen tried desperately to recall why he would be in a place like this, far beyond what Joey knew he could afford. He remembered vaguely something about Mokuba wanting him to stay in Kaiba mansion. Thinking about it he couldn't remember much of the previous day but what he could was hazy, like he had seen it all from far away.

_So, is this Kaiba's house or what?_ The blonde thought slowly, his mind still lagging behind from sleep and the last of the drugs given to numb the pain.

It was then that the door to the side of the room, and to the right of the bed, opened sharply with an expressionless Seto and a happy, beaming Mokuba standing in the threshold.

_Guess that's a yes then. _Joey concluded.

"Hay Joey" said Mokuba in an extremely happy high pitched voice. Practically skipping into the room, the raven haired boy came to stand by his bed, still smiling. Seto took two purposeful steps to follow behind him, his expressionless face never faltering. Joey smiled at the kids antics and did his best to ignore the sight of his brother in the background.

"Hay squirt, what's up?" the blonde was smiling widely as he affectionately addressed the eleven year old.

"Nothing much" Mokuba shrugged "How are you doing, do you like the room? Is there anything you want? I can get it. Anything, I mean it." He was literally bouncing and Joey had to hold him down with his uncast arm to calm the kid as he chuckled to himself at the spectacle Mokuba made.

"I'm doing find Mokuba, my ribs were hurting a bit but it's stopped now. Other than that I just feel wired because I'm covered in plaster. The room's great, nice colours, and no, I don't need anything. Thanks for offering though" Joey finished, grinning.

"Oh, ok. How did you sleep?" inquired the boy, eager to talk to his friend.

"…it's strange you should ask that. I had this really weird dream. Someone was holding me…" he trailed off. Seto had been half listening to the conversation up till now; he had noted how Joey hadn't reacted or looked at him differently but ignored him completely and talked to his brother. The blonde seemed to be treating him normally and the brunette had scolded his face into a blank mask in case he showed his uneasiness about last night. It was only when his brother asked about how the blonde slept that he had started to listen to what was being said.

_A dream…does he think it was a dream? _

"Why were they holding you?" the CEO asked, joining in the conversation for the first time. Joey looked up at him suddenly and Seto felt a rush of relief as he saw the familiar spark of passion and life in the honey amber eyes of the teen.

"I don't know…I think I was crying. They said something, but I can't remember exactly what. It was nice though…" the blonde fell silent for a moment and Seto fought to keep hold of his mask, Mokuba was looking with open confusion and it was obvious he wanted to ask another question but could sense that it wasn't the right time "…doesn't really matter though, it was only a dream." Joey concluded, shrugging nonchalantly and wincing with regret when he felt his ribs being pulled.

_So he does think it was a dream…well I'll just let him believe that. It will probably be easier for both of us. _Seto mused.

"So, are you alright with me staying here, or what?" asked Joey, addressing the brunette once again. Seto opened his mouth and a sharp look from his brother told him how to answer.

"Yes, you are staying here. I have the money and facilities to provide for you best out of everyone. Mokuba wants you here as well. Your friends can visit…if they must, and this will be your room. Understand?" the CEO said as if addressing a small child.

Joey ignored the mocking tone, too tired to rise to the silent challenge. "Sure, sure. That's great. Thanks Kaiba."

Seto stared at Joey in slight surprise for a moment, trying to recall a time when the blonde had honestly thanked him. He scolded himself mentally as he remembered how he treated Joey in the past and that he would have had no reason to thank him, more like hate him for all he had done.

"You're…welcome" the words were forced, showing gratitude did not come easy to the CEO and especially to his old time rival, no matter how much the blonde had done for him and his brother. Joey looked at Seto for a moment, processing what the brunette had just said before giving a small, shy smile, glad that they were talking civilly for once and that the stoic CEO was showing him some emotion.

Seto fought the light blush that wanted to rise on his cheeks at seeing such an expression on the blonde and he just about managed to keep the blood from his face. Damn, Joey never looked that adorable normally. With a timid smile and shinning eyes, expressing nothing but happiness…happiness that he had caused.

A loud grumbling sounded throughout the room. Both Kaiba brothers were startled by the sudden sound and looked around to find the source. Joey ducked his head sheepishly, his bangs, which had grown even longer, hung over his eyes and a blush grew on his cheeks.

"Errr, Mokuba? I might take you up on that offer of getting me anything…don't think I could have some breakfast do you?" he laughed nervously in embarrassment and Seto found himself thinking that red was a good colour on Joey.

Mokuba grinned widely in mirth at his friend and nodded his head enthusiastically. "Sure Joey, wait here, I'll go get you something." With that he ran out of the room so suddenly that Joey only caught a glimpse of his long hair before it disappeared around the door. Both teens were left standing (or in Joey's case, sitting) in momentary shock together in the room.

Looking hesitantly to Seto he asked "Is he always this hyper in the morning?"

Seto looked at him a moment before nodding "I think it's the cereal, but he won't eat anything else."

"Ahhh…remind me to never eat his cereal."

"I will."

"…" silence descended on the room.

"Look…Seto." The brunette locked gazes with the blonde again, wondering what he had to say, and glad he had been the first to start the conversation again. "Do you think…we could…I don't know, not be friends, because you probably wouldn't want that, but…not be enemies. If you know what I mean." Joey finished lamely.

"Do you mean, do you think we could talk civilly to each other for once and not try to get under each others skin with insults?"

"Yeah, that."

"I…think that would be possible. You're going to be staying for a while anyway and I don't want to fight in front of my brother." The blonde visibly relaxed.

"Thanks Kaiba, I didn't want to be fighting with you the whole time and I know what you mean about your brother. Some of the things we've said to each other aren't exactly… nice … so, truce?" asked Joey hopefully, holding out his good hand.

Seto looked at him for a long moment before gripping the offered hand firmly in his own and giving a curt nod as he shook it once. "Truce."

Joey smiled at him once more before beaming at Mokuba as he came in struggling with a large tray with multiple dishes wobbling on it. Seto took the tray from his brother and placed it next to the blonde on the bed. He offered no comment as he turned sharply and left, ruffling his younger brother's hair once and giving a slight tilting his head to Joey. The two had already launched into an animated conversation by the time he left the room.

Seto was saying good night to Mokuba, tucking him in for the night, after he had gotten hyper on ice-cream and exhausted himself from showing Joey all of his toys. The brunette decided that it was probably a good thing to check to see if the blonde had suffered any damage from the hyper active eleven year old, he also saw this as an opportunity to see if the whole 'not being enemies' thing could work out. Walking through the mansion he was expecting to find the teen in the bed, vision glued to the T.V or video game that he could be playing.

What he found surprised even the stoic CEO and left him stunned for a minuet. Joey was indeed in the bed, he did have his gaze glued to something but it was not the T.V, instead he sat, propped up by numerous pillows, fully emerged in a thick book. The teen was concentrating so much on the white pages and black writing that he didn't see Seto enter the room, or walk up alongside him and lean in next to his ear.

"…I didn't know Mutts could read." The effect was more than the brunette could have hoped for. Joey jumped possible three feet from the bed, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, the book was sent flying out of his hands to land with a heavy thud on the floor. Gripping his chest and breathing erratically the shocked blonde tried to calm himself down.

Seto, of course, found the expression on the teens face absolutely hilarious and despite his best efforts to quell the rising feeling, burst into a full out belly laugh that left him clutching at his sides while the blonde was still trying to calm down his heart.

Joey looked up sharply to see what horrible person had gone and given him a near heart attack, fully prepared to shout curses as the perpetrator. He shut his mouth however at the sight of a laughing Seto, holding his stomach and leaning against the wall to stop from falling over because of the force of his laughter. The blonde noted how the action seemed to make the CEO younger. The lines disappeared from his face as the normally permanent scowl left his features; his eyes lost their steely edge and danced, shining as they softened with mirth. Overall the brunette looked like a normal 17 year old and not the owner of a multi-billion dollar company. Joey decided that laughing definitely suited the brunette better than his normal scowl; he should do it more often.

Recovering from his shock the blonde snapped hotly at the other teen "well I'm glad you think it's funny to give other people heart attacks when they have done nothing to deserve them."

Seto managed to stop laughing long enough to look up and breathlessly gasp out "Your….your face, ah ha ha ha ha, so…so funny" with that he resumed laughing loudly.

Joey frowned at him in good humour "what about my face?"

The brunette looked up again, tears of mirth shining in his eyes and shook his head, closing his mouth and trying to desperately stop the laughter that had consumed him. His sides were beginning to hurt.

The smaller teen waited patiently on the bed while the other calmed himself.

"I'll ask again, what about my face?" Seto came to stand next to the bed, gazing at the blonde intently as if examining him before smirking.

"Do you want to whole list?" he asked.

Joey glared at him, but it held no anger "Ha, ha, would you mind getting my book back, I was getting to a good part before some evil, insensitive jerk decided to see how long my heart can stop without killing me." Seto smirked again, but it threatened to turn into a grin. Walking to the other side of the bed and bending down he recovered the blonde's book.

"'The amber spy glass' didn't know you like 'His dark materials' Mutt."

"Yeah, I've read all of them about five times already, but I never get tired of it. Phillip Pullmans amazing, I've read several of his other books as well and they're all great" Joey looked up to the CEO and Seto was mildly surprised to see happiness and passion burning in his eyes. "Have you read it?"

_He really does like books, doesn't he? Never expected that from the Mutt, guess he's full of surprises._

"I've read the first one, but I have to admit to not getting round to reading the other two, everyone I've talked to has told me there good though."

The blonde nodded his head vigorously, while flipping through the pages to find where he left off before being interrupted. "They are. You really should read them."

"I'll have to remember too sometime, but I never expected you to like books, Wheeler."

"Yeah, well. There's a lot you don't know about me and a lot more then you'd expect. I'm full of surprises."

"So I've noticed. You've managed to speak civilly to me for over five minutes."

Joey snorted at the comment, "well I'm sorry to not meeting your expectations and be a mindless teen"

"I never thought you were that." Deadly serious amber eyes turned to the brunette.

"Yes, you did. You saw me and instantly thought, big, dumb, and blonde. You heard me, my dock yard accent and thought, street thug. You never questioned if maybe I was something more then what you immediately thought, you just made your assumptions and treated me accordingly. You and everyone else. Not many people bother to see if there's something else to me than what they assume." Joey turned back to his book, picking up from where he had left off.

Seto stood and stared at the blonde teen for a moment, he desperately wanted to retort to the previous statement but realised with a heavy, guilty feeling that what Joey said was true. He had seen the teen, his blonde hair, loud personality and messy appearance and labelled him as a dumb thug that wasn't worth the time of day. Even as he made it to the finals of two world wide Duel Monster tournaments, one of them his own, he still refused to believe that maybe there was something more to the smaller teen than he thought. Instead he focused entirely on beating Yami and blaming all of the blonde's success on luck. The guilty feeling was getting worse, but what could he do?"

_You could apologise…_piped up the annoying voice called his conscience.

_Apologise, I couldn't apologise. I'm Seto Kaiba, I never apologise…Joey would never accept it anyway, not after all I've done…I know I wouldn't. _Seto replied.

_He might, Joey's a forgiving person. He's proven that by trying to be your friend._ Another voice intoned

_So what if you're Seto Kaiba that doesn't mean you're not human. You've already proven too many people that you are; most you claimed to be your rivals and enemies not so long ago. _Pointed out a third

_Just apologise to him, it's not like it would hurt you. _Added a fourth.

How many voices were living in his head anyway?

Looking at the blonde the brunette took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

"Look…Wheeler, I'm…sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that I knew what you were like and should have given you the chance to prove what you were really like"

Joey had snapped his head up at the word 'sorry' gob-smacked to hear the CEO apologising. Searching his eyes for a glimmer of mockery, a slow smile spread over his face as he recognised the sincerity shinning in the blue eyes.

"It's ok. I didn't expect you too, but thanks for apologising anyway. You're not as bad as you make yourself out to be." With that, Joey turned back to his book, immersing himself once again in the content of its pages.

Seto nodded once, realising that the conversation was over and moved to leave the room. Shutting the door behind him a small smile began tugging at the corners of his lips.

Yes, this whole 'not being enemies' really could work out.


	20. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The next day the gang arrived unexpectedly at Seto's door. The CEO took one look at the determination and worry on their faces and immediately knew that it was a fight he couldn't win. Opening the door wider and motioning them to enter he led the way to Joey's room. They entered it to find the blonde in an animated conversation with Mokuba about various video games the young Kaiba brother had. That conversation ceased, however, when the blonde teen saw his friends enter the room and a wide smile lit up his face.

"Hay, you came!" he cried enthusiastically.

"''Course we came Joey, we're your friends" replied Yugi, his smile matching the other teens as he walked to sit on the end of the bed.

Seto stayed in the room and lent with his arms crossed against the door, his blank mask carefully in place and appearing uninterested. Tristan gave him a dirty look that obviously said that he didn't want the CEO staying in the room but Seto ignored it and the other brunet didn't voice his objections.

"We're glad to see you out of the hospital" Yami said coming to stand behind Yugi.

"Yeah, me to mate. God, am I glad to be rid of all those white wall."

"Still covered in plaster though, hey Joey" Tristan said, coming up and clapping the blonde on the back slightly. Seto didn't miss how the blonde flinched. He wasn't sure though, if it was from pain or from being touched. The others didn't seem to notice and the blonde seemed to shrug it off.

Marik smirked wickedly "I know a spell that can fix that" he claimed, still grinning manically.

"No, no. I'm fine. Not really bothered by it. S'ok. Thanks for the offer though" said Joey quickly, not liking the look on the Egyptian blondes face and waving his good arm in panic. Marik shrugged, not appearing offended.

"Shame" he said. Malik simply rolled his eyes and jabbed his look alike in the stomach with his elbow. Marik let out an 'omph' and Bakura smirked.

"Are you really ok Joey? You're not in any pain are you" came the polite British voice of the smaller albino. The blonde smiled at his petit friend.

"I really am fine Ryou. No need to worry. I'm not in pain and the beds soft and the food good." That caused everyone to smile, trust Joey to mention the food. They had all been roped into sneaking food into the hospital when the blonde had started complaining that the hospital food was so bland and he couldn't eat another mouthful.

"Don't worry" piped in Mokuba suddenly, he was still seated next to Joey on the bed leaning back against the head board "I've been making sure he eats properly and we've played video games and watched movies and…" the raven haired kid rattled on.

Joey smiled widely as did Yugi, Ryou and Tristan. Yami was suppressing a smile but the laughter lines appeared around his crimson eyes. Bakura just looked as disgruntled as normal and Ryou lightly smacked him on the chest.

"Yeah…" the blonde said, cutting off the eleven year olds babbling and ruffling his head, messing up the already untameable hair "…squirt here's been looking after me and keeping me busy…where's Duke anyway?" Joey asked just noticing the absence of his other raven haired friend.

"He was busy" Malik said with a shrug "we also didn't think you'd want him mothering you all the time."

"Well yeah, that would be annoying, but I wouldn't mind seeing him. He's my friend too, despite putting me in a dog costume." Marik and Bakura smirked and the others tried not to smile.

"He put you in a dog costume?" Seto asked. His own smirk was plastered across his face. The others turned sharply and the brunette got the impression that they had forgotten he was in the room.

"What's it to you Kaiba? Why are you even here?" Tristan sneered. You could hear the loathing in his voice.

Seto glared at him and stopped leaning against the wall, pulling himself up to his full impressive height. The other brunette drew back slightly at the cold gaze he was getting.

"I'm here because may I remind you that this is _my_ house and you are all _my_ guests." His glare intensified and Tristan shrank back even more.

"Stop it Tris', you too Kaiba." Both brunettes turned to look at the blonde sitting in the bed. Despite being injured an unable to move, Joey's eyes were still burning with determination and he showed no signs of feeling put off by the two glares sent his way.

"Tristan stop annoying Kaiba. I am his guest whether you like it or not. As for you…" he turned his gaze to Seto who merely lifted an elegant eyebrow. The blonde surprised him by relaxing and grinning "…I and Duke made a bet, I lost and had to dress in a dog suit…it's quite funny now that I look back at it."

"I see" said Seto as he drew back from looming over Tristan. The other brunette took a minute to compose himself and once again glared at Kaiba before turning to Joey.

"Hay mate are you sure you're alright, staying here with…him" another loathsome look was sent at Seto. The CEO had had enough and stalked out the room, not wanting to listen to any more accusations, his brother followed him to try and calm the older Kaiba's temper.

"I'm fine Tris' and I wish you wouldn't do that." Replied the blonde, to everyone's surprise he seemed to be defending the CEO.

"But mate, this is _Kaiba" _said Tristan trying to make his point.

"He's right Joey, you've never seemed to get along before" Yugi intoned in a quiet voice, his big amethyst eyes holding concern for his friend.

"Yeah, I know Yug'. Kaiba and I didn't get along before but we've come to an understanding of a sort."

"You have?" Yami asked clearly surprised.

"Yes, we've agreed to at least try and be civil to each other and start anew. I think he's only doing it 'cause he doesn't want Mokuba to see us fighting and I'm just so tired of him calling me names that I'm willing to try anything."

"So has he? Been civil I mean?" asked Malik.

"Yeah, so far. We talked a bit yesterday and he said a few things but it was more like teasing that fighting and we got along alright."

"So you will be alright staying here" Ryou's quiet voice said.

"We can always beat him up if he harms you" grumbled Bakura sending a look to Marik who was grinning just as insanely as he was. Ryou slapped his darker half and scolded him, Joey chuckled as the larger albino immediately apologised. Bakura was well and truly whipped.

"I'm sure he won't hurt me while I'm injured, even I know Kaiba's not like that, and yes I am fine staying here, so just lay of it Tris" the blonde said seeing his friend about to object,

Closing his mouth with a click the spiky haired brunette forced out a 'fine'.

"But you will tell us if he does anything?"

"Will do…now can we talk about something else, this is all so serious and my brain can't take it." Smiling his friends quickly changed the subject and they spent the rest of the afternoon just talking.

It was later that evening when Seto decided to face Joey. He had spent the rest of the day fuming silently in his office and had sent his brother to finally chuck the blondes friends out early. Walking into the room he had a strange sense of deja vu as he saw the teen once again sitting up in his bed reading another book. A loud clearing of his throat alerted the blonde to his presence.

"Hay" Joey said, folding over the corner of the page to mark his place in the book and placing it onto the bed side table. The CEO nodded in greeting.

An awkward silence filled the room and Seto began to feel rather stupid standing in the door way and not knowing what to say. What had he been thinking coming in here?

"Look Kaiba, I'm sorry" the blonde said out of the blue.

The CEO was confused by this. "What are you sorry for? Have you broken something?"

"What? No. I'm sorry about Tristan, he had no right to say those things or act like that around you."

The brunette nodded again, "...I accept your apology, but I don't appreciate people talking like that in my own home."

"I know" the blonde sighed "I've talked to him but I'm not sure how much good it will do."

There was another silence, slightly less awkward as both teens lost themselves in their thoughts.

"Are you really alright…" Seto asked "…with staying here?" it was a surprise to the brunette to find he was slightly dreading the answer.

"Huh, yeah I'm fine. It's good now that we're not fighting. We might even be able to be friends…" the smaller teen suddenly turned nervous and started fidgeting with the sheets "…why, don't you want me here?"

"No." Joey looked down at the sheets, the image of rejection and the CEO rushed to reassure him "No, I mean I don't mind you staying here." the uncomfortable feeling had gone from his chest. Joey wanted to stay.

The blonde looked up from the sheets with glistening eyes, looking like Christmas had come early. "Thanks Kaiba...at this rate we really could be friends." he said attempting to make a joke of the situation.

The older teen gave a one shoulder shrug, not to comfortable with the topic of conversation. Walking over Seto he perched stiffly on the side of the bed. Joey looked at him in open surprise but didn't say anything. The CEO wished he would, he never did know how to start a friendly conversation.

"So…" he eventually said, casting his eyes about for something to talk about and landing on the bed side table "…what book are you reading now."

Joey could see he was uncomfortable so followed the flow and launched into an explanation on the book he was reading, '_Making Money_' by Terry Pratchett. Seto was very glad that he did.

An hour past before the chiming of a clock interrupted them, informing the two teens that it was late and that they really should be sleeping.

"I better go" said the CEO rising from the end of the bed and handing the book back to Joey.

"Yeah, goodnight Kaiba" said the blonde as he sorted out the mound of pillows around him so he could sleep comfortable on them.

"…Seto" a quiet voice interrupted him, and the blonde froze.

"What? I didn't quiet catch that." The brunette was facing away from him and standing in the door way, but he spoke louder this time for Joey to hear.

"I said you can call me Seto, since we will be living together for a while." The younger teen got the impression that that took a lot for the stoic CEO to say.

"Sure _Seto_, but you've got to call me Joey like all my other friends." The blonde saw the moving of the brunettes head as he nodded his consent.

"Goodnight…Joey" and with that Seto turned off the light and closed the door.

"Sweet dreams Seto" the blonde called out after him, falling into the abyss of sleep himself.


	21. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Weeks had passed at the Kaiba mansion and Joey had shown everyone his stubbornness and exceptional rate of healing by arguing his way into moving around the house after just one week of bed rest. Mokuba was revelling in having someone to play with at home and together he and Joey had even managed to drag Seto into joining in with some games and a horror movie marathon.

Joey friends visited at least once a week. The CEO may stay for a while but he refused to stay in the room with Tristan. The other brunette was still showing open hostility to Seto and everyone agreed that it was best to keep the two teens apart.

Joey had sometime during the first week officially declared Seto as a friend, the brunette hadn't said anything to that but he didn't protest either so life continued. The young CEO discovered that his blonde guest was not as stupid as he had believed. He and Joey often found themselves sharing conversations about books, movies, ideas for duel monsters and school work. The blonde had definitely changed things around Kaiba mansion for both brothers.

It was a week before school started up again and the gang, including Joey, were not looking forward to it. Many of them were working to finish their homework at the last minute. Seto was quietly laughing his head off at them until Joey attacked him with a pillow for being mean. To everyone's surprise the brunette didn't kill him immediately.

So, it was one week before they returned to hell -I mean school- that Joey declared during breakfast that, "I want to go somewhere."

Looking over the top of his normal morning coffee, Seto frowned at him. "Why?"

Sighing in exasperation Joey placed his still cast arm on the table, Mokuba too was frowning at him over his bowl of sugar coated cereal and Joey took the opportunity to giggle slightly at the site that both Kaiba brothers made.

"Seto, I've been coped up indoors for what, three-four weeks? I want to go outside," he finished, unleashing the dreaded puppy eyes upon the older Kaiba.

Seto tried to resist, he really did, unfortunately he didn't have the ability to resist Mokuba's puppy eyes and Joey had an extra six years of practice. He was doomed.

"Ok, ok, I'll go with you in the limo, stop doing that!" The blonde grinned at him and stopped making his eyes water. "Are you coming with us Mokuba?" Seto asked his younger brother.

"Nah, I'm going with a few friends to the park today."

Seto turned his ice blue eyes to the raven haired kid. "And when were you planning on telling me this?" he asked, raising an elegant eyebrow.

Mokuba had the decency to look sheepish, "Ummm, right now."

"I don't want you going out by yourself. Do I know any of these friends of yours?"

"But Seto, they're just kids from my class. Please let me go, I haven't seen them in ages, please?" Mokuba pleaded, releasing his own puppy eyes.

The brunette continued to frown "I don't know…"

"Oh, let him go Seto, he needs kids his own age," said Joey from across the table, tucking into his third bowl of cereal.

The CEO turned his frown to his blonde friend. "May I remind you what happened last time he went out alone?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth Seto regretted them.

They had all carefully avoided the subject of the kidnapping and what happened to Joey, giving him time to heal and get comfortable again before opening up. It was obvious to both Kaiba brothers that the blonde still needed time, from the far away glazed look his eyes got. Mokuba sent a worried look to his older brother and the brunette reached across the table to squeeze the blondes hand on the table.

"Joey, Joey?" he said in a gentle voice, not wishing to spook the teen. "Joey can you hear me? You there? I'm…sorry for saying that. I'll send Rowland to keep an eye on Mokuba and we can go out to where ever you want, ok?...Joey?" the blonde seemed to snap out of it and gave the brunette a forced smile, squeezing his hand in return.

"It's ok, you didn't mean it." Sato nodded once and withdrew his hand.

"Is there anywhere you want to go?"

Another smile from the blonde, this one less forced told the CEO that he was forgiven,

"You'll see…" said Joey "…though you might want to bring earplugs." That was the last thing the blonde would say on the matter, leaving both Kaiba brothers utterly confused.

The limo ride was conducted in silence; Joey had given the driver the address of where he wanted to go but refused to say anything about it to Seto. The blonde had also convinced him to leave behind his laptop for the day and stop working for a few hours.

_What's happening to me?_ Thought the CEO, _I never stopped working before, and suddenly along comes the blonde puppy and I'm following his every whim…wait a minute, __**puppy!**_

The brunette had no further time to examine his slightly troubling thoughts as the limo stopped and the driver opened the door for them to exit.

Seto took his time to help Joey shuffle to the door and exit with his cast ankle first, handing him his stick to use as a support with his good hand. His cast hand was being held up in a sling.

Joey gave him a smile and thanked the driver. Once the limo had driven off Seto found himself in a middle-lower class shopping district. The street was narrow and had few cars going on the road with shops and houses on either side. Few people were wondering around at the early hour, but Seto could imagine the street swarming with shoppers during the afternoon. It was overall a nice, clean place with small family run businesses. There was just one question, why on earth would Joey come here?

"Here we are!" cried Joey enthusiastically from beside him.

"And where, if I may ask, is here?" said Seto, still not seeing why the blonde would want to come to a shopping district.

"Well I figured they would all want to know that I'm still alive, if a little worse for wear. Besides I haven't been home in a while" said the blonde, and then began hopping oddly to the shop in front of them, using his cane to support his damaged foot.

The shop he was heading for was a small store in-between two larger buildings. It appeared to have two storeys, the bottom one being a book store. Walking with Joey and still not understanding what he meant by 'home' -_did Joey live around here_- he helped the blonde through the door, where he immediately shouted so that the whole store could hear.

"I'M HOME! No need to panic, I'm not dead!"

"What are you doing?" hissed Seto, embarrassed to have the younger teen shouting out nonsense in the store. It was decorated tastefully, with enough light for people to read by and well thought out displays of all kinds of books. Shelves lined two of the walls with a cashier desk on the right, containing a chair, a computer and a single register for people to pay by. It was currently unmanned. The wall behind them was all windows, letting in as much natural light as possible. Dark woods were used for the shelves with other earth colours and greens used to decorate the walls and ceiling. A door could be seen leading off to a back room behind the desk. Other selves and displays were in the middle of the room, lined with more books.

The far wall had a seating area for people to read by and on the other side of the room a flight of stairs could be seen leading to the upper floor. Overall, it looked like a well run, clean and friendly book store.

Joey didn't seem to mind that he was embarrassing the brunette and just replied with a grin on his face, "just telling them I'm home."

"Home? You live here?"

Joey's reply was cut off by someone shouting his name and launching themselves at the blonde.

"_Joey!" _

There was a blur of black hair and suddenly Joey was gripping desperately to the door frame to keep from falling over as some wrapped themselves around him in apparent happiness.

"Joey! Joey, I'm so glad to see you. I was so worried about you…" the babbling women stopped suddenly and detached herself from the blonde, pulling back to look at him at arm's length, anger and annoyance plastered across her face.

"JOSHEPH NETHANIAL WHEELER!" she screeched. Seto took a step back at the sheer force of her cry and suddenly felt very sorry for Joey…and extremely confused.

Said blonde only let out an undignified squeak of "Opps", before submitting to his fate. Now Seto could see why they should have brought ear plugs.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" continued to screech the raven haired women. "I've been so worried. Why the hell haven't you called? Why haven't you come to work? Do you realise how worried I've been. I'm going to kill you! I've been working my butt off and you come back shouting for the world to hear that your home. You ungrateful basterd!" The women appeared to finish her rant, breathing heavily and holding onto Joey for support.

Removing her hands the teen give her a few moments to calm down. Seto looked from one to the other, not knowing what to do and feeling, for once, rather out of his depth.

"Calm down Michiko, breathe," said Joey in calming voice as he moved further into the store. The young CEO followed him, not knowing what else to do. The women named Michiko took a few more moments to compose herself. Seto saw that she was a pleasing to look at person; her long black hair fell in ripples down her back, she had a pair of half moon spectacles placed upon her nose, with a pale face and slanted almond eyes. She looked to around 20, maybe slightly older, and her smart clothes showed she was a worker in the store.

So why was she shouting at Joey?

Seeming for the first time to notice that Joey was using a stick to walk and had two of his limbs in casts, she frowned at him.

"What happened to you?"

The blonde looked down at himself, and sheepishly grinned as he ran his good hand through his unruly hair. "I…got into a bit of an accident."

Michiko simply raised one elegant eyebrow and looked at him disbelievingly. "Do you really expect me to believe that? I'm not as dumb as you look, you know."

Seto decided he could quite like this person, though he still had no idea who she was or how she knew Joey.

The blonde gave a defeated sigh, "ok, something big happened, but I really don't want to talk about it. This," he said, waving a hand at his battered body "was the end result. So I've been staying at Seto's house for a while and haven't been able to come to work. I know I should have called and I'm sorry, but I'm here now, ok?"

Michiko looked to Joey's side and seemed to notice Seto standing there for the first time, which was strange considering his impressive height and billowing trench coat, she met his glare with one of his own.

"So you're the one who's been looking after Joey for me?"

"Yes." She gave him another hard look and seemed to realise something.

"Hay, aren't you that guy? You know, the teenage millionaire with the fancy gaming company?"

"Kaiba corp. and yes, I am the CEO"

"How do you know Joey?" she asked, scowling again.

"He's in my class. May I ask how _you_ happen to know Joey and what this place is?" his questions obviously surprised her as she blinked owlishly at him.

"You mean you don't know? I'm Joey's employee and this _Somnium Books _with included café."

"Wait!" said Seto, not sure he was hearing correctly, "You said you were Joeys employee, don't you mean you're his employer?"

The raven haired women blinked once before waving his question off. "No, Joey's my employer, it's his store."

"It is?" asked the brunette blinking owlishly himself, a huge show of emotion from the normally cold teen.

"Yeah, just ask Joey…Joey? Joey where are you" Michiko asked. Looking around Seto saw that the blonde was no where to be seen, but a voice called out from the room behind the counter.

"I'm in here Michi'." Both the women and the tall teen walked into the back of the store to find Joey sitting down awkwardly in a large chair, his stick lent up against the desk he was sitting at and going through several accounts and stock takes for the store.

"You've not been keeping very organised Michi'."

A look of annoyance passed over the pleasing features of the raven haired women, making her a fierce to behold. "Not organised, _not organised_. I'll have you know I've been running this shop, during the holiday season, for weeks. I've had to close the café because I couldn't cope. _I haven't had time to organise everything_."

Joey once again had the decency to look sheepish, "sorry, the stocks look alright and the numbers seem to add up. Having the café closed has impacted of the profits but not too much. Where's Will anyway?" Joey said, referring to his other, part time employee.

"Will is on holiday, remember?" Michiko replied with a sigh, she seemed tired.

The blonde looked at her with concern and motioned for her to sit down on the couch behind him. She did so with another exhausted sigh.

"Sorry about running you into the ground like this," said the blonde. Seto moved to sit on the other side of the couch, dying to ask Joey if it was true that he owned the store, but feeling he shouldn't interrupt.

Michiko merely waved off the smaller teen's apology.

"I can't man the desk, but I can get around now so I should be able to work in the back here and sort out the accounts and do a stock take. We'll open the café up when term starts up; I should be almost healed by then and Will should be back."

The raven haired women nodded her ascent and Seto felt it was a good opportunity to speak. "Joey?"

"Hmm, what do you want Seto?"

"Do you really own this store," he asked, getting to the point.

"What? Oh, yeah. I had a bit of money left over from Duelist Kingdom, after paying for my sister operation."

_Operation? What operation? Another thing to ask about_, though Seto.

"Of course the place was a right dump when I bought it, so it was cheap. Did it up a bit to make it liveable. Anyway, at first I didn't realise that I got both storeys, so I ended up doing the whole thing up. Everything was working fine and stuff, just needed a lick of paint and a few new furnishings really," continued Joey.

"Anyway, to cut a long story short, a friend of mine new this old second hand store that was closing and had a lot of books. They knew I liked reading and asked if I would take them. I did and began selling them, eventually someone asked if I sold new books as well, so I got some ordered and put a proper sign up above the store and _Somnium Books _was born."

Seto sat staring at the blonde in shock, had he really done all that. Beside him Michiko rose from her seat and went back into the shop, but the brunette didn't notice.

"'Course once school started I knew I couldn't keep it up so I put a 'help wanted' sign up in the window and Michiko came along. She's cool, hard working and doesn't mind that I'm still at school so she's a pleasure to work with. To be honest she's more like an older sister than a colleague. She's doing a course in literature with an online university and has her own debts to pay so she works almost full time. She's the one that suggested opening a café upstairs. By now we were in the green, the businesses had been running for almost a year and I had bought a nearby apartment, so I wasn't above the store. The café was a great hit, we have a section of revision books and often get people coming it to use them, chat with their friends and have a piece of cake as they revise. Others come into have a quiet read and afternoon tea." The brunette could do nothing but blink in astonishment at the blonde accomplishments. "Michiko couldn't run the store and café by herself while I was at school so we had to hire a part-timer, Will. He's cool if a bit quiet, but he balances us out. We're more like family than anything else. So you can see why I wanted to come here?"

The CEO nodded, affection showing in his blue eyes as he looked upon the grinning blonde teen in front of him.

"I certainly can."


	22. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

After the slightly strange and revealing visit to Joey's book store they had spent a lot more time there. Seto had found himself browsing the many titles, often buying a few or sitting in the comfy chairs in the back room and working on his laptop while the blonde did stock takes and went through accounts. The CEO soon found out that everyone in the district knew Joey, there wasn't a single person he had come across that hadn't greeted him with a smile or warmed up to him quickly. Seto felt a bit apprehensive when ever this happened as he wasn't a people person and his aloft and cold attitude often put people off. Everyone seemed to accept his presence with good grace (and a few squeals from the girls) seeing as he was a friend with Joey.

The brunette was also suddenly finding himself cutting down on his working hours and finding more problems that his employees could fix rather than rushing to the rescue himself. His decreased work load could also be because he finally found a competent sectary in one of Michiko's friends, certainly the girl wasn't afraid to speak her mind and shout at his employees for him and for once she seemed to have no interest in getting into his pants. Yes, Seto could safely he was feeling more content now than ever before in his life.

Then school started.

It was inevitable, really! With almost a thousand adolescent, hormonal driven, gossip scavengers that the rumours would escalate, especially considering they involved the schools most infamous ex-gang member and the resident teenage genius millionaire. It was an unusually hot day when school started again and as always the slick black Kaiba Corp. limo pulled up to the front gate of the school.

Kaiba looked through the tinted windows and grimaced.

"Something wrong? You look like you've swallowed something sour," inquired the blonde innocently. Joey was looking a lot better, his arm had healed leaving his upper body completely free of plasters and the only remaining injury was his ankle cast, though that was due to come off on Wednesday. Despite Kaiba's best efforts Joey still looked as messy as normal, hair thrown out of place, clothes rumpled, shirt un-tucked and glinting dog tags hung around his neck. The easy smile and expressive amber eyes did something to make the sight endearing. Said expressive eyes were blinking at him curiously and waiting for an answer.

"Nothing sour"

"Oh!"

"Just completely and utterly disgusting," Seto finished with another grimace as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. He didn't care that he was keeping the driver waiting, and blocking the entrance to the school, he needed time to gather himself for what was out there.

"Aww, come on. It can't be that bad. Has someone got embarrassing pictures of you and posted them around the school or something?" the blonde blinked again, teasing him lightly as he usually did with another easy smile on his face.

"No! No pictures, its worse. The moment I step out there I'm going to be run over and slaughtered by those chits in miniskirts, smothered by their cleavage and drowned under the scent of their perfume."

"What! I got to see this," Joey exclaimed and leaned over from the opposite seat. He took Seto by surprise as he pushed himself to the window and pressed the brunette against the seat between his body. Seto, not used to physical contact, didn't know what to do but was worried about Joey unbalancing himself on his bad leg so placed his hands upon the blondes waist to steady him. The feel of the other teen's body against his own only served to increase the heat in the limo, despite its extensive air conditioning system. The smell of apples, cinnamon and dark chocolate drifted up to him, so different from the overpowering flowery synthetic fragrances of the perfumes worn by women. The CEO found himself in some kind of daze, only the blonde's excited voice snapped him out of it.

"Ha, ha! It your fan girls. God, they look like their melting, all the makeup's running of their faces. Urg." Joey said, still peering out the window and grinning in mirth. "Hay, I wonder how long it will be before one of them faints?" the blonde's mirth had diminished to be replaced by sincere childish curiosity. "My bets on the bleach blonde to the right, the one with the lipstick dribbling down her chin."

Seto barely heard the words that were coming from the smaller teen, but was instead staring at his hands. They had been crossed the last time he had conscious control over them, but now they were resting on the small of the blonde teens back, holding his slim hips lightly in their grasp. Joey's shirt had ridden up as he leaned over and Seto's long, pale fingers were splayed across the bare peach coloured skin, making small circling caresses.

Joey moved away from the window when he got bored of fan girl watching and Seto snatched his hands away. The smaller teen slouched back down on his side of the limo and grinned at the taller brunette.

"What do you think?"

Seto gave a strained smile and replied with a mutual "maybe" while inside his thoughts were in turmoil.

_What the hell was that?_ _What the hell was I doing? I haven't touched anyone like that ever! Why the bloody hell was I pulling him closer and caressing his back? This is Joey, your friend!_ _You don't do that with friends!_ He raged, mentally tossing his arms up in distress and running around in panic_. And what was with smelling him?_ _And thinking it was __**nice!**__ It __**shouldn't be nice**__. I shouldn't be smelling him and I really shouldn't have done that._ _Why did I do that?_ He asked himself once again, Joey just kept smiling. _It's the heat, it got to be. That it! It's far too hot and the heat had gone to your head and made you delusional causing you to do wired things._ Seto thought, once again conveniently forgetting the limos extensive air conditioning. _Right, the heat! It was all the heat. No need to worry! Just the heat, nothing unusual and there is definitely nothing wrong with me!_

Finally having convinced himself, the CEO tuned back in to the blonde's babblings.

"So Seto, how do you plan on getting us past the fan girls from hell? You've got something up your sleeve right?" The smaller teen asked enthusiastically with more childlike curiosity.

"Us?" replied Seto, arching an elegant eyebrow and completely ignoring the blonde's main question. "Why would you need to worry? It's not like they chase you."

Joey gave him a small glare for what Seto was implying but didn't rise to the bait. "Yes, us! You do realise if they see me with _you_, coming out from _your_ limo and being friendly they will descend into outrageous jealously and tare me limb from limb." Seto arched his eyebrow again, but didn't comment. He was quite sure that his fan girls _would_ tear the blonde limb from limb; however, he didn't want to sound pessimistic.

"So, what is your plan? I know you've thought of one, you wouldn't be Seto Kaiba if you hadn't."

"Well, that is true" admitted the brunette, "…did you bring that extra crutch?"

The blonde blinked adorably. _Wait! Did I just think that? God, this heat is worse than I thought_, exclaimed Seto mentally.

Joey presented him with his shiny new crutches, looking at them in puzzlement. "Yeah, I brought it, see? But I don't get why I need two? I told you I was fine with one."

"I know you are, but I need one for the plan."

"Oh, so what are we going to do?" said the blonde, leaning closer.

Seto too leaned closer, not because anyone could hear them, just for the effect. "Ok, here's the plan…"

The door to the sleek black limo opened slowly. All of the gathered fan girls' immediately stopped slouching and stood straight in anticipation, some quickly applying last minute lipstick and eye shadow. Then a foot appeared.

The foot was covered by a plaster cast; the leg attached to it was covered in a pair of rumpled trousers. The long metal poll of the crutch came next and then a body pulled itself from out of the car. The chest was covered with a creased t-shirt, the first three buttons undone. Dog tags glittered in the sunlight as did the golden hair of the teen. Honey amber orbs looked around nervously as Joey began to walk (hobble) with both crutches quickly towards the school.

The fan girls were silent.

The blonde could feel the outrage, jealousy and confusion building as the brains of numerous celebrity obsessed school girls processed the situation. It appeared that many didn't know what to say as they stood with their mouths hanging open, doing rather good impressions of fish. Joey was almost halfway to the entrance of the school building when the CEO stepped out of the limo as well.

There was another pregnant pause in which the fan girls considered what they should do. On the one hand Kaiba was there so they should be swarming him; on the other hand _Joey Wheeler_ arrived from the same limo as Kaiba so they should be ripping him apart in jealousy. In this pause Seto's large strides managed to get him passed the most densely packed fan girls before they moved. However, once they realised that the brunette was making a graceful get away there was no stopping them. They charged.

It is a well know fact that the battle cry (squeal) of the fan girl species invigorates the most deeply primal flight instinct in all human males. The sound cuts through them resulting in automatic adrenalin rush and induces a state of panic state in which their only thought is to escape the immidate area till they once again belive themselves to be in a place of safty.

In other words, they ran!

The fan girls charged, still crying out. Seto abandoned gracefulness and broke out into a sprint. Joey was trying to move along faster with his injured foot but in his weakened state some of the fan girls who had been hanging back from the crowd were almost upon him.

It was when one of the rabid females reached for his shirt to tear it (and Him) apart that Seto caught up. People from inside the school and around the premises watched as the CEO lifted his supposed to be enemy up bridle style, (still with both crutches, Joey's book bag and Seto's briefcase) and continued running towards the school.

Yugi and Co, who were standing in the entrance hall to the school looked on terrified as the brunette and blonde got within five paces of the doors. The fan girls weren't going to give up lying down though and with the extra weight of Joey Seto couldn't hope to out run the fastest of them for long.

Four paces…

The screaming was still going on as the group of rabid females honed in on their pray.

Three paces…

The school ground was littered with the bodies of the slower (and fatter) fan girls as they fell and got trampled in the stampede.

Two paces…

At this distance the gang could see the sweat running down Seto's forehead as he neared his goal. Joey was wide eyed with panic but a look of determination could be seen in his eyes.

One pace…and they were in. The fan girls were still coming though, and it didn't look like they were going to stop.

Dropping Joey, who miraculously stayed on his feet, Seto shouted "NOW" and grabbed one of the open double doors. Joey, with a bit more difficulty, but no less speed grabbed the other and pushed it closed with Seto.

The two double doors met with a resounding bang and the blonde lifted his extra crutch, sliding it through the parallel metal handles of the door, sealing it from the outside. Not a second latter the mass of fan girl flesh smacked into them. The door and crutch groaned in protest but held as the squished, make-up clad faces, pressed against the glass, smearing lipstick and blusher all over it.

The gang stood wide eyed and speechless. Joey stood shocked and watching the door apprehensively in case it would suddenly fail. Seto stood hunched over and panting for all he was worth.

"I-It worked" stated Joey. The brunette nodded, still to worn out to say anything and not caring what he looked like.

"Good plan" nodding once more the CEO stood straight and brushed off invisible dirt from his clothes. Subtly whipping the sweat of his for head, he grabbed his suit case that was lying on the floor and stuck his ice mask on once again. Giving a small smirk, that Joey now recognised as a kind of smile for the brunette.

"You think that was bad, wait till after school."

"After school?" asked Joey, not knowing what he was going on about.

"Yes, after school. It's the same fan girls, only this time you're running away from the (relative) safety of the school and there's no surprise to stall them." Amber eyes widening at the implications of what the brunette had said, Joey cringed, his lip trembling as he whimpered.

"Oh Ra"

"Indeed," said Seto with a pained expression, before spinning on his heal, trench-coat billowing behind him as he headed further into the school. Joey, instead of following him, turned to his friends who had been staring in shock this whole time.

"Hi guys" he said, grinning.

XXX

"You do realise that there not going to shut up anytime soon," said the blonde innocently during class. Their history teacher had long since given up one of his pupils having an interest in the subject and placed a new movie on every other lesson. He appeared to be the only one really watching the movie as other students had moved to sit in groups and were quietly talking to each other or falling asleep on their desks. The CEO was currently illuminated by the light of his laptop, making his pale skin glow as he looked to his side, slightly surprised to find the smaller teen sitting there.

"What? No one's watching the movie anyway…and I'm working!" he softly, but no less menacingly, exclaimed.

"I was talking about the rumours moneybags." Joey decided to completely ignored Seto's comment about working and the manner in which it was given, knowing it was simply the brunette's sunny disposition.

"There's always rumours, it's a _school_. The mindless masses of stupid hormone driven teens obviously have nothing better to do than gossip" whispered back the brunette.

Joey just looked at him oddly for a moment. Like trying to decide if he was actually sane and it rather annoyed the CEO.

"What!" he snapped.

"You do realise that you are a hormone driven teenager right?"

"I may, by age, be a teenager but I am not hormone driven like the rest of the mindless masses in this building" the brunette stated hauntingly, completely ignoring that morning's incident in the car and pushing it to the back of his mind. "Besides, I don't gossip."

"That's only because you're so caught up in your work that you wouldn't know anything to gossip about. That and you have no one to gossip to."

"Well, excuse me for running a multimillion dollar company. I'm sorry that it takes up my free time and makes me more mature than the rest of my so called piers!" Seto spat.

"Good, you should be" Joey replied sincerely. The taller teen looked at him for a minute before deciding that no matter how ingenious he was his logical mind would never be able to understand the random chaos that was Joey.

"Getting back on subject…" continued the blonde "…the rumours are going to be twice as bad now."

"Why?"

"Think about it, you arrive to school with your most hated 'enemy'" Seto could hear the quote marks. "You then help him escape from your fan girls. On top of that, he's mysteriously injured with no explanation…well, there's just no boundary to what people will come up with."

"So, don't worry about it and don't listen."

"Worry about it? Oh, I'm not worried about it, I've had my name drag through the dirt a few times already and it's never really bothered me. I was more worried about your reputation."

"Why? I'm not. As long as it doesn't affect my brother or my company it's of no concern" he said with a shrug, fingers still tapping on the keys of his laptop erratically.

"You're not?"

"No."

"Oh" Joey sighed. "That's a relief, I was worried that me being around you would be bad…glad to know it isn't." The blonde then placed his head on the desk to use the last half of the lesson to get some sleep before lunch.

Seto sat there, keys still tapping and refused to admit the warm feeling that was spreading through his chest. He had never ha someone worry about whether he was concerned about the rumours, or if he wanted them to stay with him. He also refused to admit that he was happy that the blonde had admitted he would still stick around Seto if he could and be friends.

Having someone care about your desires and what you wanted was almost…_nice._

Starting suddenly at his thoughts Seto glared at the screen and started typing even more quickly and violently.

He also denied that his lips had turned up into a smile as he heard the blond next to him mumbled about pizza in his sleep.

XXX

She had seen them. Seen _Him, _that ugly person with her perfect, beautiful Seto. Seen the stupid teen, with his stupid hair and stupid smile. She'd seen that stupid _Dog. _

How dare he laugh with Seto like that? How dare he sit close to him like that? How dare he occupy the space that was rightfully belonged to _Her. _Friendship! Seto wouldn't be friends with such a stupid canine thug. He didn't need friendship, he had proven that before. All he needed was _Her_. He just had to realise that first, then everything would be ok.

Oh, she wasn't worried. It wouldn't be long until her smart, beautiful, perfect Seto saw what a dirty, worthless, poor _Mutt_ was clinging to his leg like the common stray he was. Then he would realise that he just needed _Her_, and they would be perfect together, beautiful together. Yes! He just needed to see that.

Anger boiled in her breast as she thought about what she had seen that morning. The _Dog_ had come from _His_ car, and Seto had…Seto had…_touched him! _He'd picked him up and carried him like princess…like a _lover_. Hadn't Seto seen that the blonde would taint him with his filth? Oh, he was a good actor, she would grant him. If her Seto hadn't figured it out yet. She saw through him though.

Seto needed to see he was bad, needed to get away before his beauty could be permanently tainted. Maybe she would help him. He would obviously thank her for saving him from the _Dog_ and then Seto would realise that it was _Her_ he was meant to be with.

_Yes!_ She would reveal the blonde for the filth he really was, for the _Mutt_ he really was. The question was, how? He was injured, why was that? What had happened to him to make Seto fall for his tricks and become his friend? She would find out, expose the _Dog_ as a fraud and then Seto would be _Her's_.

She couldn't wait!


	23. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

The week continued smoothly, Joey's cast came off as planned on Wednesday and he was walking normally again. So far he had avoided with expert agility _not_ to be ripped apart by jealous fan girls, though the death glares in class were starting to annoy him. The gang had become used to the blonde spending time with Seto and Joey had even convinced the CEO to sit with them for lunch on some occasions, with the argument that fan girls were less likely to come and bug him if he was in the protection of other people.

Yugi had welcomed the brunette with open arms as did Ryou. Yami had been wary but was glad the taller teen was finally opening up to them and that the wounds in his soul were healing. Bakura hadn't cared as long as the brunette didn't threaten Ryou and Duke had eventually accepted it after many verbal fights of wits (which Seto always won). The only one of the gang which appeared to still have a problem with the CEO was Tristan, but Joey had talked to him and he was willing to give Seto a chance to redeem himself for his best friend's sake.

Both Seto and Joey had fallen into a routine of sitting next to each other in the classes they shared, normally eating with the gang and then going to their respected work. The blonde had been annoyed when Seto started working stupid hours again until the other teen had explained that he had a major contract going down in the US which may advance his company to the states. The brunette had then been manipulated (with the use of large amounts of puppy-eyes) by Mokuba and Joey into promising to take a two week vacation afterwards. It was because of his busy schedule that the CEO didn't notice that someone was following him. It was also because of the re-opening the café that Joey didn't notice when someone started asking questions about him around the neighbourhood.

_Damn! She had been following Seto for a week but all he did was work…maybe he had finally become bored with the Mutt. She __**knew **__he would! He would never get bored of __**Her**__, he would want to spend every second with Her. But she had to make sure! Make sure that her perfect Seto got rid of the Dog forever. He wasn't a good influence, making poor, poor Seto sit with those losers and talking to him when he is working on his laptop in school, getting drool all over him. That stupid __**Dog!**__ He needed to learn his place!_

_She had followed the Mutt of course. She had been surprised when he went to the book shop to work but didn't care. She had asked where he had been and what had happened to make the Dog injured? Why he had come to school in the limo?_

_The answer to the last question had really angered Her. The __**Mutt **__was living with __**Her Seto**__! Tainting his house with his filth and invading Her poor lovers privacy. How dare he! She had almost strangled the Dog when she next saw him but had restrained herself. The stupid stray would get what was coming to him when Seto finally rejected and humiliated him in public. _

_Then he would learn his place._

_But she needed to know how to do it. To make sure that Seto would see him for the filth he was and take Her as his lover for saving him. How was she going to do it…?_

"Are you sure it's ok for that basterd to be around Joey? He was always mean to him before. How do you know he's not blackmailing him into being his friend or something awful like that?" a voice rang out down the hall.

"He's not doing that Tristan, he has no reason to. What could Joey give him? Kaiba's just finally opening up, and besides, isn't it good that they've stopped fighting? Now we don't have to listen to them shouting at each other all the time," another voice replied.

_They were talking about Her Seto._

"That's what's so suspicious Yugi. They used to _always _fight, Joey used to _hate _him and now they're the best of buddies. It's suspicious."

"Nonsense, do you think it's suspicious Yami?"

"No, I don't. Kaiba is just opening up; his wounds are healing and Joey is helping him." A third and deeper voice replied.

"But he used to _hate_ him" the first voice shouted.

"Joey didn't hate him. He did_ dislike_ Kaiba but Joey is a forgiving person and you know it. It was inevitable they would become friends with them sharing so much in common."

"In common?" the second, cheerier voice said.

"Yes, stubborn personality, loud mouth, dragon complex, both having younger siblings, pretty much being orphans, the list goes on."

"Oh, I suppose you right."

"Right! RIGHT! Have you guys forgotten that it was people going after Kaiba that _kidnapped _Joey! That hurt Joey!"

_What, the Dog was kidnapped? People tried to use the Mutt to get to Seto. Why would they do that? He doesn't matter enough to be used as a ransom and they weren't friends before they came back to school…but they were enemies…_

"It is stupid" continued the first voice "how they hated each other and then Joey comes back from God knows where, injured, and wanting to be best friends with the asshole. Something must have happened and I'm _telling _you Kaiba's behind it."

"Nonsense Tris', Joey's a big boy and can look after himself. He's not as stupid as everyone thinks. Joey knows what he's doing." The second voice defended.

"As it is, we cannot do anything about it. As I said both Joey and Kaiba are stubborn and will do what they want and think is best. Besides, are you sure this is the best place to talk about that _Incident_?" the third, deeper voice asked "remember that Joey and Kaiba want to keep it a secret and away from the public."

"Yeah, yeah but I still don't see…" the voices trailed away as the moved past her and down the hall.

_She smiled gleefully, finally the breakthrough she had been after. Oh, she didn't know the full story, but she could imagine. The second voice had said the Dog had been kidnapped and then wanted to suddenly be friends with __**Her**__ Seto. He was right, it was suspicious. The Mutt hadn't been __**that**__ injured for being used in a ransom and the other one had said the Dog wasn't stupid. She knew that already of course, as she could see his acting ability and the way he had managed to convince a genius like Her Seto that he was innocent._

_Maybe it was staged?_

_That's it! She thought with excitement. It had to be staged, the Mutt had to be working for the people who took him and now he was playing on the sympathy vote to get close to Her perfect Seto. The Dog still hated him and probably knew something, he had probably poked his stupid wet canine nose where it didn't belong and found something he could use against Seto and sold it to the CEO's competition. The Dog was greedy and wanted more so he had faked and injury and became Seto's friend playing him like a fool._

_Her poor, poor Seto. Being lead along by the filthy stray and not even realising that he had hurt him. Well, she was convinced that she had the answer! After all, what else could it be? The Dog could never really be innocent and close to Seto for any other reason right? Being close to Seto was Her place!_

_She would set it right. She would tell everyone, especially Seto. She would show Her beautiful love how close he was to being tainted and how She saved him. Seto would see how the Mutt hurt and betrayed him even though She never would and he would humiliate the canine and make him beg for mercy._

_It was brilliant! She had it, the way to get Seto and destroy the Dog. Seto wouldn't know the whole story as the other people had said, the Mutt was keeping it a secret._

_She would expose him for a fraud and Seto would be Her's like it was meant to be. Nothing could go wrong._

XXX

Seto and Joey arrived in the limo as normal. There had been a tension in the Kaiba house as the brunette and Mokuba wondered about whether the blonde was going to stay. Unknown to them, Joey had also been worrying about it and dreading leaving their company and the mansion that had become his home.

The blonde had come back on Wednesday from the hospital, his head lowered in sorrow, believing that not only would he have to leave the familiar walls but that Seto would no longer wish to be his friend. The CEO had waited by the door with his arms crossed, looking to an outsider to be cool, calm and collected, if not slightly impatient. In truth he was just as nervous as Joey and dreading whether the blonde would wish to stay in his home and still be his friend.

The door had opened and the two teens had stared at each other a while before the taller of the two turned abruptly and began walking up the stairs without looking back. Joey hadn't minded and simply followed the imposing back, knowing that Seto was telling him to follow and trusted him to do so.

They had gone to the second floor of the mansion without a word and the brunette had opened a door to a spare bedroom. Only it wasn't a spare bedroom, but Joey's room, with all of his belonging scattered around it. The blonde had looked to the other teen and seen the anticipation and apprehension there, despite the icy mask, and smiled. Seto was asking him to stay, and he wanted to.

Seeing the smile the brunette had smiled back and watched as the smaller teen silently walked into the room to inspect it and move things where he wanted. He was happy. Joey would stay. That had been their unspoken agreement and both had been arriving in the limo to school every day since.

It was now the second week of school and the blonde was surprisingly cheerful about it. Seto was wondering how he got stuck with not only Mokuba but also another hyper morning person. Everything should have been normal (if you counted normal as a daily run to the entrance to avoid the fan girls) but it wasn't.

The pair could feel the difference straight away. The many eyes weren't looking at them with curiosity or jealously but accusingly, with doubt and hatred. The whispers started almost as soon as the stares and they could feel the buzz of hushed voice throughout the school. Both looked at each other to see if they knew the reason for this strange occurrence. Realising that they were both in the dark the pair began to make the rest of the way to the school building. One more thing was drastically wrong as well. There were no fan girls!

The reason for this was soon revealed as they were ambushed in the corridor on the way to homeroom.

"Joey Wheeler!" a voice accused, spitting out the name. The voice had come from a girl with long blonde hair that fell to her waist and slanted hazel eyes. Her skirt was far too short but at least she wasn't completely smothered by makeup like the fan girls behind her. She could have been described as pretty if it wasn't for the disgusted and triumphant sneer across her face. Joey's and Seto's eyes widened slightly and they took a step back as they realised that the whole of the female population (and a few of the males) were standing and facing them in the corridor.

The brunettes sapphire orbs hardened as he saw the looks they were giving the blonde next to him, stepping forward slightly and shielding the shorter teen with his body. Joey just looked at him with surprise.

"What do you want? What do _all _of you want?" the CEO growled, making a formidable sight.

The girl and the ones behind her swooned at his deep voice, going starry eyed for a moment before remembering what they were trying to do.

"Oh, Seto" cried the apparent leader. The brunette growled again for the use of his first name by a stranger. "We thought you would like to know, haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?" he didn't have time for stupid conversations.

"What that…" she looked at Joey behind him, pointing an accusing finger "…_Dog_ has done to you?" It was Joey's turn to growl at the insulting name. He tried to take a step forward to confront them but Seto stood in his way. The smaller teen glared at the CEO for blocking him but the brunette ignored it. He didn't like where this was going. What were they on about? What had Joey done?

_She smiled in joy. Her Seto didn't know! That meant he would thank her all the more when he found out. She had seen his eyes narrow and heard the growl of lust that had come from him, knowing he had been shocked by Her beauty. The doubt was there now, in his eyes. Perfect!_

"Do you know how much he's hurt you? How he's playing you Seto? Oh, we don't blame you for falling for it, do we?" she finished, addressing the mob behind her. The number of people had increased as other students came to see what the commotion was about and many, who had heard the rumours, wanted to see if they were true.

"This is the last time I will ask what you are talking about nicely? Answer me!"

"It's ok Seto, love," the CEO glared even more viciously and almost grimaced at her term of affection. "We know how you were tricked into believing the _Mutt_ was kidnapped and needed help. We don't blame you for falling for it. But you need to know the truth and what a fraud that…_filth_ is." She pointed another accusing finger at Joey and spat out the words. The blonde and Seto blinked at her owlishly for a minute in confusion. Two thoughts going through their heads.

'_What did she mean __**pretend**__? And, how did she find out?'_

_She gave another smile as she continued in her tale and explained everything to her poor Seto._

"The _Dog_ betrayed you Seto. The people who kidnapped him wanted information about you and he told them. I bet he didn't even put up a fight, but we would never betray you like that Seto." Many of the fan girls declared their loyalty to the brunette and started shouting at Joey for betraying the CEO. The two continued to blink, but a dark look was slowly coming over the smaller teen's face, his normally bright amber eyes blackening to hardened bronze.

"Of course it was only your superior intelligence that found the kidnappers and stopped that _Mutt_ from telling any more information to your competitors," the girl battered her eyelashes in what was supposed to be a seductive and innocent way. By now you could practically see the dark cloud hanging over Joey's head. The gang had noticed the commotion and were making their way towards the crowd, but they were being pushed back by the interested and angry onlookers, many of which were glaring at Joey.

"But that's not all Seto, the _stray_ is greedy and you shouldn't trust him. He's still using you! It's ok to be confused but it's obvious that he's only being your friend to get more information. It's to suspicious for him to go from hating you to wanting to be your friend without some other motive, the _Mutt's_ just greedy. We would never go after your money like that Seto and we would never try to trick you," she finished in what she thought was soothing and convincing manner.

"That's right!" called an angry fan girl from the crowd.

"The _Dog_ needs to know his place." Another shouted.

"He probably wasn't even injured, he just wanted to gain your sympathy" the ring leader stated calmly, positively glowing with victory and happiness at being so close to _Her_ Seto. Other angry shouts and insults started coming from the crowed, growing more violet and hurtful.

The brunette's hands clenched into fists and he absently realised that he was shaking with anger. It was strange for him to be so passionate about something; Joey was wearing off on him. At the moment though, the only thing he could think about was how angry he was.

_How dare they say that about Joey? He would never do that! Not Joey, not kind, sweet, passionate, caring Joey._ Seto raged mentally, to angry to wonder about the words of endearment. _They don't even know the whole story. They're just making it up to fit their needs. Not injured! NOT INJURED! He almost __**died**__! He had a break down; I had rock him in comfort. __**He was raped**__!_ The boiling anger sharpened and turned as cold as steel, but before the CEO had a chance to cut into the fan girls the blonde stepped out from behind him and came to place himself directly in front of the crowed. They immediately started to fire their insults more rapidly.

"So finally you stopped hiding behind your masters legs _Mutt_" someone jeered. The crowed began to circle him. The taller teen winced as he realised he had said much the same things to the blonde when they had still been enemies. He now truly regretted his words.

"Or maybe he's finally grown a backbone?"

"Not likely, I bet he snapped and gave the people the information they wanted after just one slap."

"They probably didn't even need to do _that_ to get him to pee his pants. The _Dog_ was probably shivering in fear, he's so pathetic."

"The bastard should never be allowed near Seto."

"Get away from him you _filthy Dog_, you don't even deserve to breathe the same air as someone like Seto"

"Did you really think you could be his friend, he's miles above you. You're nothing but dirt on the end of Seto's shoes. Dirty, poor, pathetic, cry-baby _Mutt!_"

The angry voices continued to shout as Joey just stood there and took it without even blinking. The blonde was so dangerously still that Seto worried about whether he was still breathing. That was until he saw his face.

If looks could kill every singly fan girl and onlooker would be dead. Really dead! Tortured, blasted, blown into pieces, chopped into dust and swept away on the wind _dead!_ The brunette had never seen the blonde so angry and he was suddenly very aware that Joey had grown up on the streets, with less than ideal people and been forced to look after himself.

Joey could be dangerous.

The insults continued though, despite the glare.

"Tell me Joey…" the leader, and the one who had started the whole thing, said. The taller teen was surprised at the use of blonde's name, so far it had only been _Dog_, or _Mutt_, or _Stray_. '_What was she doing?_ '

"…did you cry?"

Joey turned his gaze almost lazily on her and the CEO saw her take a step back and its intensity, but she didn't retreat far.

"Well? Answer me _Mutt_, or has a cat got your tongue?"

"…Yes…I cried." There was silence for a moment after the smaller teen's reply. His voice had been devoid of emotion and hollow. Some of the crowed looked uncomfortable at the change in character. They got their confidence back eventually when the blonde did nothing more, and continued to throw insults.

"I knew it, you just a week little _Mutt."_

"Greedy, worthless and spineless…"

"Maybe the stupid fucker should be put down."

"Yeah!" came the energetic cries.

"I would never do that."

"Me neither, I would take torture for Seto. I would never sell him out."

"How could you betray him you _filth_? They probably barley did anything to you. I would take a lot worse."

"Pretending to be his friend to get information, have you no morals?"

"He's just a _filthy_ _stray_, what would he know about morals. I bet he's stealing from Seto too."

"You bastard!"

"HAY!" the crowed turned to look at the blonde's friends who surround both him and Seto. They had finally made it through the crowd and could hear what was going on. They weren't happy; the Yami's looked especially murderous. Joey continued to stand rock still, his gaze penetrating. "How dare you say that about Joey! You have no idea what he's been through."

It was a surprise to all that Ryou was the one shouting so fiercely but the crowed took no notice and pushed forwards.

"Out of the way losers."

"You're just as filthy as he is, always trying to be our lovely Seto's friends."

"I bet he's stringing you along as well, stealing from you when you are not looking."

"Ha!" Bakura growled. "I used to be a thief, I would know if he were stealing anything. Now if you say one more word about Joey or my Ryou, I will slice you op…" a blue, rumpled jacket was pressed in front of the spirits chest and released. The albino caught it on instinct and everyone turned to Joey. The blonde had come out of his stand still and was now unbuttoning his shirt.

"Joey what are you…?" Yugi began to say but the blonde cut him off by addressing the crowd. He said everything in a rather bored tone but it carried dangerously, like a blade, through the onlookers, even his friends shivered a bit.

"You really think you could take more?"

Everyone was thrown out of the loop for a moment. Unfortunately, the leader got her wits back first. "Of course we could do better; we would never betray Seto or brake as quickly as you did."

"Oh, that's good." He drawled, but at the same time he turned her back to her and everyone else. Seto thought that for a moment Joey would try to run, instead he dropped his open shirt from around his shoulders and there was a collective horrified gasp before silence descended.

"You should know that crying won't help you though. No one hears you scream in hell." The blonde was looking over his shoulder at the wide eyed faces of the crowed.

The gang and Seto were in just as much shock as everyone else. Joeys back was littered with all kinds of scars. Only his shoulders were visible but it was obvious they travelled all the way down his back. Some were neat and precise in a cross pattern but most were jagged and uneven. The skin had darkened as it hardened over the gashes, pulled open by salt. Whip marks could be seen along the top of his shoulders and the CEO was almost certain that he could see a few burn marks under the many cuts. In all there wasn't a centimetre of unmarred flash on the blonde.

"If you want to swap places, be my guest," continued the blonde "Just make sure you hold onto your sanity, I'm not too sure about mine." With that he turned, placed his shirt back around his shoulders, grabbed his jacket of a shocked Bakura and began walking towards the crowd. It parted for him like the Red Sea as many eyes followed the teen's retreat into his classroom. In the commotion, no one had realised the bell had rung and they were missing class.

Seto stood his ice mask firmly in place, but shaking on the inside. He had known what the basterds had done to Joey but to see the actual results, the actual scars that his puppy would have to carry for the rest of his life shocked him. Feelings of guilt and anger poured into him but he couldn't act on them. Glaring at the crowed, and being the first to recover, he followed after the blonde. Hoping that his puppy would still be willing to talk and thinking of the best ways to comfort him.

It was as he opened the classroom door that a startling thought popped into his head.

_He had just called Joey 'his puppy'…twice! _


	24. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

The day went slowly after the incident with the fan girls in the hall. Seto sat next to Joey as usual but the blonde avoided his friends at lunch. Surprisingly he still allowed the brunette to sit next to him outside, something that made the CEO stupidly happy for no reason he could identify. They had not talked about the incident as the older teen decided it would be better to wait until they were in private and that the blonde needed some time to himself to think. Many of the people in the class room continued to stare at Joey during lessons and the whispering continued but the pair ignored it. A dark cloud still hung over the blonde's head and his eyes still weren't the warm amber that they were before. Seto missed them.

The CEO was currently stalking down the halls to try and catch Joey before he left. They had had math at the end of the day meaning that they were in different classes, something that was royally pissing the off brunette. Everyone took one look at him and decided that they weren't feeling suicidal and stayed out of his way, even the gang was being weary of him.

_He couldn't find Joey!_ A fact that was causing the CEO's anger and irritation to rise at an exceptional rate.

Seto had been everywhere in the school, first to Joey's classroom, then to the gang, the roof, other classrooms, and all the toilets and there was still no Joey. Now he was walking around the edge of the field to the school gym in hopes that the blonde was hiding there. A figure shifted from behind the structure. _Joey?_ Lengthening his stride, Seto moved to intercept, grabbing the person by the shoulder and spinning them around roughly to find…it wasn't Joey.

Seto growled as he came face to face with the lead fan girl from that morning.

_She smiled gleefully. __**Her**__ Seto had come to __**Her**__ after all, not being able to resist __**Her **__charms. The blonde wasn't with him either. He must have listened to them anyway. Seen the scars and decided that the __**Mutt**__ was ugly and tainted. She knew he wouldn't be able to stay near something so imperfect and tattered. Now Seto was __**Her's.**__ It was almost too good._

"Oh Seto, I knew you would," she cried in delight and then threw herself at the tall teen. The brunette snarled in disgust, repulsed by the feel of her body that was so unlike Joey's, and shoved her non to gently to the ground where she fell on her mini clad skirt bum. She gazed up at him with a look of hurt and betrayal. Again the CEO noticed how unlike Joey's her eyes were, doubtful and sinister, not shining with kindness and mirth like the blondes. He needed to find Joey!

"Who the hell are you and where is he?"

"Seto, how could you forget," she said in a silly, high pitched voice as she pulled herself up, "my names Cassy, your one and only." She finished of her declaration of love by batting her eyelashes and moving closer to the CEO once again. Seto narrowed his eyes but didn't stop her progress.

"Yeah, my one and only bane of existence! But that's not what I want to know. Where is _Joey?_" She continued to move nearer, puffing out her chest to show a large amount of cleavage, even as her face twisted with hatred.

"That _Mutt_, why are you still worried about that _Mutt_! Didn't you see him Seto; see how tattered and used he is. How Ugly and Worthless, you shouldn't be near hi…" anger flooded over the brunette and before he could stop himself he had grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her up to his eyes level, growling at her, his eyes so narrow that they were only slits. _How dare she?_

The girl blinked and then blushed, looking away in embarrassment. _What was she thinking now?_

"Oh Seto, I knew you felt that way but I didn't think you would be so rough! We could get in trouble for doing it here…but I don't mind." The CEO blinked at her and cringed backwards in revulsion as Cassy turned, her lips pursed and leaning in to kiss him. Pushing away once again she fell with a cry of surprise onto the floor for a second time. Seto towered over her.

"Listen to me, I don't care who you are, I don't want to know who you are and I certainly Do. Not. Like. You. If I ever, _ever _hear one more derogatory name against Joey I will make your life _very_ painful. If I ever see you _near_ him I will make your life painful, GOT IT?" She stared up at him in shock, tears of fright coming to her eyes.

Seto smirked, "now tell me…" he leaned down to look her in the eye and grabbed her face with his hand with enough force to leave a bruise, she cried out again."…Where. Is. Joey?"

She gazed at him, seeing the smouldering anger in his ice blue eyes and let the tears spill over onto her cheeks.

"I-I-I saw h-him leaving t-th-the s-school, I-I don't k-know wh-where he w-w-went."

The CEO smirked again before releasing her. He stood up straight and stepped right over the girl lying on the ground. Walking past the gym the CEO headed towards the school entrance without looking back.

_Of course he left you idiot! _Seto berated himself._ Joey would do something productive when he was feeling down to lift his spirits and the only place he would go to do that is the shop._

Getting into the limo Seto instructed the driver not to go to Kaiba Corp and drove off to _Somnium _Books.

The door to the book store opened smoothly and the tall brunette stepped in, slightly less dramatic without the use of his trench-coats. Never the less, he seemed to draw enough attention as suddenly all the eyes in the store where on him. Seto was surprised by how busy the store was but presumed the last time he had come here with Joey most people would have been on holiday or at work. It appeared that the blonde's success was greater than the brunette had realised.

Many eyes widened as they recognised who he was and whispers had already started throughout the younger customers. A few college girls looked like they were about to approach him so he glared to warn them off. They suddenly found a great interest in sci-fi.

Sweeping the store with his piercing eyes he found himself getting angry when he couldn't find Joey and was about to start ranting when a happy voice cut him off.

"Ah, Seto sweetie, your back! Joey's upstairs in the café." Michiko's cheerful voice informed him, appearing to read his mind. Seto gave her a stiff nod, now nervous as well as angry. _Would Joey want to talk to him? Was he all right or was it just a matter of time until he had a melt down?_

The CEO's long legs took him to the bottom of the stairs in a matter of seconds but someone taking a hold of his arm stopped him. Turning to snap at the person he found himself facing a rather small, but no less fierce looking, women in her mid sixties. Her greying hair was falling out of the bun it had been placed in and she seemed frail. Though that was nothing but a deception judging by the iron hold on his arm. Before the CEO could speak, she beat him to it.

"What would be your business with young Joseph then, hummm?" The old women raised an eyebrow at him and it was abundantly clear by her sharp green eyes that she may have been old but she was not senile.

"I'm a friend from school, now will you let me go?" he demanded, wanting to get to Joey and feeling his irritation grow by the second.

"No, no I don't think I'll let you go till you answer my question young man." The hag replied, not at all put off by his anger.

"What questions? I haven't got time for this!"

"Then I suggest you make time. Now, first question, who are you?"

Seto snarled and give up to answering the old woman questions, as the grip on his arm had still not relinquished.

"I am Seto Kaiba, and I see no reason for _you _to know that."

"I have a reason to know that because you are requesting young Joseph. If you think of hurting him you will find yourself on the wrong end of my cane." The brunette looked to her hand and for the first time noticed the polished, hard wood walking stick that women held in her hand. There was no doubt that being hit with that would hurt.

_But that didn't give her the right to stop him getting to Joey!_

"You rude young man, a person like you shouldn't be corrupting young Joseph with your high standing and cold attitude. Why I or'ta…"

"Milly!" a startled voice said from above them. Both turned to find the blonde standing halfway down the stairs, an apron around his waist and wearing some well looked after tight jeans and a white button up shirt. His amber eyes were staring at the pair in shock.

Seto felt an overwhelming amount of relief to see that the blonde looked fine and not crying his eyes out…not that he expected Joey to do that, but just in case he was it was good to get conformation that he was alright.

That still didn't mean that he wasn't annoyed with the hag that was _still_ holding onto his arm!

"Ah, young Joseph, this man here…" she gave the CEO a small shake "…was looking for you. Said something about being your friend, he did. Just whom have you been hanging out with, you shouldn't relate to those shady big business types you know? No good will come of them." 'Milly' finished her rant by glaring furiously at Seto, the teen glared right back and for a moment it was a battle of wills between the two.

The blonde promptly interrupted the staring competition.

"Milly stop!" Joey said while taking her arm and gently prying it from the CEO. The brunette shot the gray haired women a victorious smirk, not caring that he was being childish.

"Seto is my friend. Something happened at school and he was probably worried about me." Seto nodded when Joey looked to him for confirmation of the fact. "So you see, there's nothing wrong with him being here. You shouldn't harass people."

"What something? What did he do? What happened? Did anyone hurt you? Are you alright? Wait till I get my hands on them I'll shove my cane up their…"

"Yes! Yes, I'm sure you would." Interrupted the blonde quickly, gently steering the old woman away from both him and the other teen. "Seto isn't to blame for what happened and it was nothing really."

The CEO frowned; it couldn't be good for the blonde to be in denial. It would just lead to a bigger explosion when he could no longer keep everything bottled up. Seto didn't say anything at that moment though; afraid the vile woman would stay if he did.

"Well, if it wasn't something big why did he come?" the dratted woman raised an eyebrow at the smaller teen. Joey fumbled for a moment trying to think of an answer but she seemed to come to her own conclusion instead and smiled wolfishly.

"Ah I get it. No need to explain, I know what young folk are like. Why, back in 1967 I…"

"What do you mean you old wench. What do you know?" Seto demanded, tired with the woman and wanting to speak to Joey in privet.

"Bit rude isn't he?" she said, talking to Joey while looking the CEO up and down. Joey gave a befuddled expression to Seto to show he too didn't know what the old woman was on about.

"Still…" she continued, "nice body. Tall, broad, a bit on the skinny side but still strong. You got yourself a keeper there Joseph."

Well, that couldn't have been more obvious!

Joey blushed an attractive red colour and started to try and correct the women, spluttering in his haste. Seto too fought the light pink that wanted to appear on his cheeks and looked everywhere but at the people in from of him. As the blonde continued to grow redder the older teen couldn't help but think he looked rather adorable…and then venomously deny the thought and blame it on momentary madness.

'Milly' turned to the still stuttering Joey. "Are you sure you used all the right positions, dear? You weren't unsatisfied or anything were you, because you don't want to be with him if he can't satisfy your needs. Now I know a good way to do it back from 1973…"

It was lucky for the impossibly red Joey and the embarrassed CEO that Michiko decided to notice what was going on and interrupt at that moment.

"Milly, we just got a new delivery of auto-biographys and those caramel toffees at the counter that you're so fond of. Won't you come and have one?"

"Hummm, well a toffee might do about now. Don't forget to use lube on your first few goes, ok dear. Wouldn't want you hurting." She said to Joey as she patted his hand and began moving away, aided by Michiko's assistant prodding. "Now girl isn't it time that you found yourself a nice man. Why back in 1976…" and then she was gone.

There was a _very _awkward silence.

"Er, s-sorry about that. Milly's not really a bad person, she's just protective and speaks her mind." Seto nodded stiffly, still embarrassed beyond imagining. "And, you know…sorry about how she thought you were…that we had…we were…you know what I mean."

"Er, yes I know what you mean…does she always….we aren't…let's do our best to forget the whole thing."

The blonde shook his head. "Agreed, we shall never speak of this again…until the next time she'll bring it up." Joey was still blushing and Seto was finding himself with the oddest urge to stroke the heated cheeks. Trying to get rid of the urge, and the small voice in his head that was saying Joey was '_just the cutest thing'_ when he blushed, the taller teen quickly changed the subject.

"What were you doing before I came here?"

"Huh, oh I was working in the café…oh, no! I told Will I would only be a minute. I better get to work again," and with that the blonde was running up the stairs. The brunette followed at a much more leisurely pace and found himself in a very crowded, but still cosy, café.

The windows were large, allowing the sunlight to flood throughout the room. Comfy chairs with low-lying tables and people sitting around/on them were in every corner of the room. Many of those present had a newspaper or a book open while they sipped their tea, or ate their cake.

Several student study groups, reference books from the shop bellow splayed out on the tables, occupied the larger tables.

The noise in the room was loud as multiple people carried out multiple conversations and arguments. Despite the noise and over-crowding it was not at all unpleasant. The brunette could clearly see that everyone was in a good mode, polite and smiling. It would still be quite easy to drown out the conversations to a dull drone and lose yourself in a book much as many people in the small room were doing.

The counter was laid out with a verity of cakes, flapjacks, brownies, pictures of different coffees, cold drinks and other things generally sold in a small café. It all looked delicious and the smell of the freshly ground beans as well as the new batch of freshly baked cookies was heaven on the nostrils.

Seto found himself lead to a vacant two-seater corner table while the smaller teen immediately want into work mode. There was another person working in the café. They were plain, with a pleasing face and mousy brown hair. '_Will_', presumed the CEO. It seemed that both he and Joey were alternating between taking orders, cleaning tables, providing refills, getting the food, making the coffee and chatting to the regular and irregular customers all at once. Despite this apparent chaos the brunette observed that not once did they take tables same order, provide the wrong beverage, or get in each other's way.

The teen found himself relaxing, for once not even thinking about getting his laptop out and working in the calm, chaotic, dramatic, relaxed atmosphere of the café. The whole place seemed to radiate life and happiness. Seeing the smiling Joey the other teen understood why. It was like the blonde had imprinted himself on the very walls and all of the customers were feeling the benefit of his warmth and sparkling amber eyes. The million-dollar smile was permanently on his face without appearing strained.

Seto sat further back in the chair as Mike came and delivered complimentary water and coffee. The teen prepared himself for what may become his favourite past time of 'Joey watching.'

Business slowly wound down for the day and the last of the customers began leaving in dribs- and-drabs at around six 'o' clock. It was as Joey was congratulating himself on work well done and whipping down the last of the tables that he spotted Seto in the back corner. A completely open and relaxed expression lay across his face. The teen was staring right at him and the blonde was about to call to him when he spotted something on the counter and had an idea.

Seto started as the smaller teen sauntered towards him, still wearing his apron and dazzling grin, with a small plate piled high with muffins. The mischievous glint in the blonde's eye did nothing to relax him.

"Hay Seto" said the blonde in a far too innocent, singsong voice.

"Hay" was the older teen's simple reply.

Joey grinned.

Will, apparently seeing what was going on and knowing what the blonde was doing, walked over to them and gave the smaller teen a friendly cuff on the back of the head.

"Joey you can't try and pawn off the rest of the Mysterious Muffins on a customer. That's just cruel."

"Don't worry Will, Seto's a friend of mine, he won't mind eating a few for me," he said while grinning.

"Mysterious Muffins?" the brunette asked with a look of complete confusion and slight apprehension plastered on his face. Both of the other males turned to him and the brunette had to keep himself from gulping in fear and running for his life at the blonde's look of insane mischief. The dismay and sympathy he saw on Will's face did nothing to ease his dawning sense of dread.

"Mysterious Muffins!" the blonde announced with a flourish, placing the plate in front of Seto with an over dramatic sweep of his arm. "Try your luck."

"Huh?" it seemed that Will decided to take pity on him and explain the blonde's behaviour.

Taking the seat opposite Seto and leaving Joey to lean up against the back of his chair (still grinning of course) he sighed in exasperation.

"Mysterious muffins…are Joey's invention."

"They are?" Seto asked, not sure if he trusted Joey to invent anything that didn't either kill you or drive you mad, or both.

"Yes! They are different flavoured muffins that look pretty much exactly the same on the outside. Joey thought it would be a good idea to see what flavours people would get and if they could complete The Challenge. 'The Challenge' was to eat the whole muffin, of course this wouldn't be so bad if you knew what flavour you got, but as he manages to make them taste of pretty much anything it can be considered torture to eat the whole thing." The brunette waved his hand behind him indicating the blonde, grinning even wider if it was possible.

"Only Joey knows the flavours of the muffins for that week, so you have to pick one you think looks good and take your luck. Want to give it a go?"

Seto thought about it for a moment, looking at the eight innocent muffins on the plate in front of him. _What's the worst that could happen?_

"Ok…if it will stop his grinning." The sharp glare sent to the blonde did nothing. The smaller teen pulled out a few napkins, gave one to both Will and Seto, and a small piece of paper from his pocket before indicating to the plate.

Will took a muffin first and everyone held their breath as he bit into it and began to chew dramatically. When he didn't spit it out immediately the puppy lost his patience.

"Well, what does it taste like? Is it good? All right? Disgusting? _What?_"

"It taste kind of like citrus, sort of tangy too. Though I can't quite place the flavour. What is it?" the question was direct at Joey who consulted his paper, evidently a list of flavours.

"Hummm? You must have got orange and pineapple. Not bad but can be horrible depending on your taste. Lucky sod," the teen said sulkily, obviously he had wanted the muffin to be something gross. Will smiled at him and continued to eat his muffin. Both of them turned to Seto expectantly.

The CEO gulped. He hadn't really believed Will when he said the Muffins could taste like _anything_, but if Joey managed to get one to taste like orange and pineapple what else could he get them to taste like?…And was it even possible to flavour muffins that way?

The pair was still looking at him so he picked up the nearest muffin gingerly and brought it to his mouth. Tacking a minuscule bite from it he chewed once…twice…

…and spat it out into the nearest napkin.

Joey collapsed in to hysterical laughter as he saw the normally stoic brunette try to whip his tongue on the other napkin while rushing past him to the counter and pouring himself glass after glass of water. Deciding this wasn't enough, he grabbed a yet to be washed cup with some coffee in it and gulped it down rapidly.

Regaining his composure after the horrible offence on his taste buds Seto turned to the laughing menace.

"Wh-What the hell was that thing! It tastes like rotten socks, and shit, and anything else that's nasty. What the hell did you _put_ in that muffin?" The question was shouted across the room but it was apparent he wasn't going to get an answer as the blonde fell to the floor, laughing even harder than before. Seto turned to Will who was smothering his snickers but still had a look of sympathy on his face.

Taking the hint, Will plucked the list from the hysterical, crying Joey and looked for the worst flavour. His pity increasing tenfold.

"Oh…Urg!"

"What do you mean 'Oh, Urg' what the _hell_ did I just eat?"

"A mu-muffin," gasped a winded Joey, gathering in the last of his giggles.

"What _flavour_ muffin?"

"A-a prune a-and sardine one!" shouted the blonde and then promptly collapsed into laughter again and the look on the CEO's face.

"Oh! Urg!"

"Told you so," Will stated as the brunette started to shovel water into his mouth and then turned to any drinks lying in the vicinity.

It wasn't till the shop was closed and another two hours later that Joey finally stopped giggling.


	25. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 **

The screen glared at him while the speakers blasted the over dramatic music into his ears, and for the thousands time in that last hour Seto wondered how Joey and Mokuba had suckered him into this.

The three of them were watching a movie in the main living room (it had the biggest T.V) the CEO was sitting with his normal perfect, stiff posture on the couch, arms crossed and glowering at the screen. Joey beside him was curled up, knees against his chest and staring, entrapped, with wide amber eyes that flickered with the light from the telly. Mokuba was, much to Seto chagrin, on the floor and kneeling not a foot away from the screen.

Coming to a slow section in the action movie the brunette decided that he really couldn't allow his brother to be that close.

"Mokuba….Mokuba….MOKUBA!" The raven haired kid jumped and finally looked around.

"What is it Seto?" he asked, confusion evident on his face.

"Move back from the screen."

"Don't wa'na," the eleven year old pouted, turning back to the T.V.

"Mokuba!" Seto growled, angry at being ignored by his younger brother. The kid purposely ignored him. Beside the brunette, the blonde chuckled lightly.

Seto shot a glare at the smaller teen, but Joey let it roll off him, fully accustomed to the look by now.

"I suppose _you_ think you could do better?" he snapped.

Joey smiled; taking up the challenge and slowly rose from the couch. Walking across the room quietly he stood behind the small kid. Bending down to grab Mokuba around the middle he lifted the child, who stayed in his curled up position, with only a whine of protest and moved backwards to deposit him further away from the screen. Mokuba turned around briefly to shoot a dirty look at the blonde but Joey just shrugged good naturedly.

Seto continued to watch in silence as his brother settled down in his now further away place and Joey folded himself up on the couch again, giving him a small victorious smile.

The brunette huffed. _Stupid puppy._

Another half an hour latter and the movie ended with a dramatic explosion and even worse music than before. There was a moment of silence…then,

"That was awesome!" cried Mokuba from the floor. Jumping up and turning to face his brother, but Seto wasn't watching him or the movie. Instead the tall teen had his gaze firmly fixed on the smiling blonde next to him, who didn't seem to notice. Mokuba saw the small half smile of his brother's lips and the softening of his eyes as he continued to stare at Joey. Maybe he was interrupting something?

Grinning, he exclaimed quickly, "well I'm tired, I'm going to bed. You guys watch another movie." It was only then that his older brother turned to him but the ebony haired kid was already out of the door.

"But it's only…." The brunette trailed of as the last of his younger brother's foot disappeared from site. "…well that was odd. Normally he'd be begging me to stay up."

"Maybe he really is tired," the blonde said with a shrug. Joey slowly got up from the couch and started stretching out his sore muscles. Seto had to stop himself from staring, fixing his gaze firmly on the screen where the credits were still running.

"This is _Mokuba _remember, he's never tired…especially when he's had three bowls of ice-cream," Seto glared at the blonde.

Joey had the decency to look sheepish, "What? I couldn't resist him alright; he got all cute and innocent on me."

Seto huffed again and crossed his arms over his chest once more. He managed to get a few moments of decent glaring at the wall before the blonde interrupted.

"Want to do what he said?"

"Huh?"

"Watch another movie, I mean?"

The brunette sighed, but gave in "alright…as long as it's something decent this time."

Joey smiled again and made his way to the DVD cupboard. "When are you ever happy?" he teased over his shoulder.

Outwardly the other teen didn't say anything but his mind had already supplied him with the answer.

'_When you smile.'_

_No! Stupid thoughts! Stop thinking such mushy things. It's not like it's true…ok, so it may be slightly true…but it's not like it means anything! I don't like Joey or anything. Do I?_

As soon as the question had presented itself Seto felt his stomach droop with dread even while his heart constricted painfully.

_Oh, God!_

"Seto, Seto you there?" a hand waved in front of his face.

"Oh, huh? Sorry, what do you want?" the CEO said quickly, coming out of his daze.

_Momentary madness, it's nothing more._ He reassured himself.

"I said the movie is about to start," Joey continued speaking. The brunette nodded once and then turned back to the screen, refusing to look at the frowning blonde by his side. Eventually Joey seemed to give up trying to figure out what was wrong with him, and too turned back to the screen.

The movie, Seto admitted, could have been slightly interesting but unfortunately, it wasn't. Instead it was completely boring and the CEO was having trouble not falling asleep as the character on the screen continued to groan on and on. Something falling heavily on his shoulder woke him up.

Looking to his left Seto sighed and suppressed the urge to cry out as his heart once again constricted. His vision was confronted with a head of messy, but soft, blonde hair. The golden strands were falling onto the face of the teen beneath and tickling the tanned cheeks.

Joey looked extremely delicate in his sleep, vulnerable and week. Even though the brunette knew he was none of these things Seto couldn't suppress the urge to wrap his arms around the slim figure and protect him. The smaller teen was snoring softly, his chest rising and falling slowly with deep even breaths. The blond was still half curled up, his long limbs drawn to him and arms gripping himself gently.

Long, dark eyelashes rimmed the lids of closed amber eyes and soft, full lips drew the CEO's sight to them.

_It would be so easy…_

No! Shaking his head, Seto gently moved until he could get out from under the blonde without waking him. Placing one arm on the back of the teen and the other under his knees the brunette gently lifted Joey into his arms and away from the couch, bridal style.

The blonde shifted and for a moment Seto froze, afraid of waking the other and being found in such a position. However the small teen did not wake, but pressed himself closer into the strong chest of the CEO, his head resting on the broad shoulder as he resumed his quiet snoring.

Seto released the breath he had been holding and moved from the room. He was startled to find that Joey was not difficult to carry, despite all that he ate and was rather slim in his arms. Continuing to walk into the hallway and slowly up the stairs the CEO could not help think of how wrong the fan-girls were.

How could they ever call such a creature ugly? It was him that didn't deserve to be this close to something so beautiful, not the other way round. He was cold, rude and bitter, but Joey was different. The puppy was forgiving, funny, adorable, cheerful, protective, strong and infinitely loving. Seto didn't think he could ever hope to match up to the blonde but was grateful he was permitted to bask in the glow that the small teen produced.

How could someone like Joey be dirty and unclean? How could the puppy be ugly when the personified beauty in every form? A small smile crept across the brunettes face as he thought about how blind everyone had been, how blind _he_ had been, to the true Joey.

Buried in his thoughts the CEO hadn't realised that he had already placed the blonde on the bed, tucked the covers around him and was now gently stroking the golden hair.

Staring fondly at the blonde while his thoughts began to wonder, the brunette's hand moved with a will of its own. Trailing a line from the sunshine hair to the smooth surface of Joey's tanned cheek and then further to brush his fingers along the other teens full lips.

_It would be so easy…_

Seto realised what he was doing with start.

Hastily moving his hand away as if it had been burned, the CEO looked at Joey to make sure the other teen hadn't awakened. The blonde shifted onto his side and drew the covers closer to himself, but did not wake. Eyes wide, Seto looked to his hand to see if it could give him the answers to what he had been doing? What he had been _thinking_?

The tingling along his fingers continued from where he had touched the blonde. Seto stood swiftly and turned to the door, all but flying through it and down the hall to his own room. Closing the door and locking it, the CEO leaned against the wood in the darkness. Bringing up his hand, he stared at it once again.

_Oh, God! What was he doing?..._


	26. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"Have you found him?" the 'Boss' hissed from the shadows of the shoddy apartment he was sitting in.

"Right here Boss," Vince replied. In the door frame Greg roughly pushed someone into the apartment. The man straightened up, standing at over 6 foot he had an intimidating height, with broad shoulders and mucky brown hair that might once have been blonde hanging limply down his face. His unshaven face was covered in stubble and cold, hard brown eyes assessed the apartment and men in an almost bored fashion. There was silence as all the men sized each other up.

"Alright, I know how this goes. You want something, you think I can get it, you want a deal. Right?" the man spoke gruffly.

"That's correct. My boss had hired me to kidnap someone to use for blackmail. Unfortunately are last attempt didn't work thanks to someone close to you," the Boss said, his smooth voice very different from the man opposite him.

The man gave a humourless laugh, "close to me, there's no one close to me. If you want something I can tell you now that the only thing I got is booze and crack, but I can give you as much of that as you want," a unpleasant smile spread across his lips while his eyes gleamed with greed, "provided you pay the right price."

"Of course, but that's not what I want."

"Well that's all that I got. No family or nothing, not since my lousy cock sucking son walked out on me an disappeared. Ungrateful, lazy dog he was." Greg and Vince came to stand on either side of the man and pulled up a seat for him. The brown eyed male took it and slumped in the chair while the 'Boss' smirked maliciously.

"But Mr. Wheeler, it's your son that I want you to get."

The man stared at him in shock for a moment, before giving another humourless laugh. "Joey! Why would you want that mutt? Good for nothing but whoring himself out you know. Why the hell would you want him? There are lots of other fuck toys you can have if you want, most who don't cause as much trouble too."

"Well, it turns out that your son happens to be a friend of the person we're trying to blackmail. A rather _close_ friend from what we have seen," the 'Boss' raised a suggestive eyebrow.

"And who, exactly, are you trying to black mail?" sneered Mr. Wheeler. He was curious as to what was going on and eager for a pay check. He could always run with the money…but if they told him where his son had been hiding it would be the perfect opportunity. He had fantasized about getting revenge on the Mutt since he walked out on him. Thought of what he could do to make him pay for leaving him in this shit hole when he was deserved much better.

The 'Boss' thought quickly and decided that the man wasn't going to help them unless told most of what was going on. The man was greedy and disgusting but he was intelligent. He didn't want someone running with the money but he really didn't have any choice. His boss had been adamant that he get Kaiba under control and have a new hostage within a week, _or else_. If the man did run then while everyone was concentrating on Mr. Wheeler he could slip away from this mess and drop off the radar for a bit. Another smile graced his face, twisting it into something evil.

"We are trying to get control over Mr. Seto Kaiba. My boss has big plans for him. They plan on taking over subtly and make it look like a regular transaction. Of course I can't tell you their names out right, but they are another gaming company. With your son being held and under threat Kaiba will have to obey to our demands. When that happens my employers will be happy to issue demands and while leaching off Kaiba Corp. from the inside, take over and make it look like a legal transaction. Then even if something does go wrong Mr. Kaiba will be hopeless to do anything about it and my boss will be top in the business industry." Vince and Greg looked at each other but held their tongues. It wasn't often that the 'Boss' was so talkative and they knew he shouldn't be saying this but they were employed by him and not who he was working for, so they didn't ask questions.

Mr. Wheeler was angry. No, he was past angry, he was furious. His not good shit of a son was living the highlife with some big hotshot at his every back and call while he rotted away down here! He didn't care what these people wanted; his son would be _getting_ what he _deserved_. His anger didn't stop him from losing his outside calm though. He would get his son, but he would also get a big pay check out of these losers first.

"So why do you needed me? Couldn't you just get him yourself?"

The smile quickly fell from the other males face to be replaced by a look of outrage. "Unfortunately it seems your son has some skill in fighting. We only have the resources to hire one more person, so we chose yourself, otherwise Vince, Greg and myself are the only people allowed to go out and detain him. My boss dosen't want to many lose ends that could be traced back to him you understand. With your son's street fighting abilities though he is more than a match for us. Of course that wouldn't be a problem if we could kill him but obviously we need him alive if the plan is going to work." The 'Boss' sneered at the very thought of leaving the Dog who had mucked up all his plans alive. He had got to play with him for a time and wanted to again. The Mutt had made one of the best fuck toys of his life. "You however, Mr. Wheeler know your own son. You may be able to approach him without causing suspicion or will at least know how to make him comply. That is why we need you; the Mutt is unlikely to fight his own farther."

The dirty blonde thought of this for a moment and realised it was probably true. His son was such a soft ponce that he wouldn't dare hurt someone unless it was to protect one of his friends. He'd never try to harm his own dad. Pity for Joey that Mr. Wheeler had no such qualms with torturing his own son.

"My pay?" he grunted out, seemingly bored with the situation.

The 'Boss' reached around his desk and picked up a black bag. "£10,000 up front and another £10,000 if you secure him."

£10,000 was a tidy little sum to have and run off with, more than enough to cover his tracks and get away from here. _After I've dealt with my pathetic son, of course_. Opening the bag Mr Wheeler quickly checked it and grunted when he saw the money was there.

He stood from his chair, ignoring the men beside him tensing and smiled wickedly at the 'Boss'.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Don't you worry, I'll take care of my basterd son," with that he walked out the room and was gone. Silence descended for a while.

"…Sir, are you sure we can trust him?" asked Vince.

"Of course we can't trust him, but he may do what we want."

_Or provid a decent enough distraction for me to get out of here using the other £10,000,_ thought the 'Boss'

"How do we know he won't just go and do his own thing?" Greg joined in the questioning.

"We don't, my employers asked me to tell him what to do and hire him. I did that. If he decides to follow the instructions it's his own choice. There's a tracker code on the money, my employers will know if he runs off."

_I'll just trade the money for jewellery first though, and then sell them off again before escaping._

"Now if you don't want me to shoot you for being annoying drop the questions and get ready. Like I said, we can't trust Mr. Wheeler, so we're going to pay his son a visit of our own."

"Yes boss" Greg and Vince shouted before moving out of the apartment to get all their weapons ready.

_Right, if I attack him and injure myself I will be sent to the hospital. Slipping away from there won't be hard; everyone's attention will be on Mr. Wheeler. Then I can get out of this mess, spend the money and make myself into a new person before they even notice…_

XXX

Joey wasn't stupid despite what some people thought, however, at times he let his emotions get the better of him and he did stupid things. Like back chatting to the teachers, picking a fight with Seto at school (not that he did that anymore) and deciding to take a walk to clear his head in the middle of the night with no mobile phone or money.

He had just woken up and remembered what had happened in the class room with the fan girls. Working in the café had helped but he could still remember the faces of his friends when he showed them his back, their horrified expressions. He knew they knew what happened to him, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that they would now try to avoid him, or worse, treat him like he had a disease and needed special treatment. Worst of all he remembered Seto's face. How it had closed off and blanked at the scars that crisscrossed his back. He could remember thinking with dread that he wouldn't want to be his friend anymore, that he wouldn't want someone marked in such a disgusting way in his house. It had hurt. Even more than if his other friends had thought it.

He didn't know why Seto's opinion mattered so much. He still had his old apartment and could still live there if he was thrown out, but the Kaiba mansion had become his home even if he knew it didn't belong to him. Seto himself had become…something more. The blonde knew he was gay and had no problems with it. It was just who he was. He had also known that he found the brunette attractive, who wouldn't? With startling blue eyes, incredible height, broad chest, lean body and soft chestnut hair…but lately Joey had been feeling something more… and he knew what it was but he didn't want to believe it because it could ruin everything between him and Seto. He was also sure Seto wouldn't want someone used and marked like him.

Joey was growing feelings for Seto. BIG feelings!

With all these depressing, confusing and strange thoughts running through his head the blonde teen had decided that the night air was just what he needed to clear his head.

…It wasn't helping him much now though.

Moving away from another powerful kick Joey brought up his own blade to meet the other with a clang. Swinging it away he aimed a kick at the attacker in a particularly tender place and heard the man fall to the ground with a grunt, curling up protectively around his crotch. Dodging again he found himself face to face with the 'Boss'. Having knocked Greg down and Vince charging in for another attack behind him, Joey decided the best chance was to take them by surprise. Instead of raising his blade like the 'Boss' thought he would Joey charged right at him. Taken by surprise for a split second he tried to move out of the way but was too late. Both of them went tumbling to the ground and were missed by Vince's heavy knife. Rolling over the 'Boss' and onto his feet again, Joey was going to run when someone grabbed his ankle.

Turning around quickly his reflexes quickly brought his own blade down on the hand, slashing it across the back and letting blood flow from the wound. A cry of pain came from the 'Boss' but he didn't let that stop him as he yanked Joey down to the ground, kicking at him desperately to get lose. Greg had recovered from his injury (sort of) and came over to kick the blond in the ribs, his knife having been lost in the darkness. Seeing the approaching figure the teen stopped struggling and pulled himself up as much as he could, flashing his knife at the 'Boss' again. He was momentarily confused as he hear another pained cry, sure that he hadn't hit anything, but the hand holding his ankle released and with his now free feet he kicked Greg once again in his sore spot. Vince, who had been coming up behind him tripped over the fallen figure. Joey rolled away on the floor but wasn't quick enough to stop the man's knife from scraping across his side. Holding in his own scream of pain Joey quickly stood and fled from the scene. The 'Boss' slunk away into the darkness unseen.

Running through the night the blonde arrived in the rich part of town and was immediately at Kaiba mansion. Taking out his keys the amber eyed teen tried to open the door but his hand was shaking and he ended up dropping the small piece of metal. Before he had had to put up a strong front for Serenity and Mokuba but this time the attack hadn't seemed to be a kidnapping and the realisation that the people who had tortured him were still trying to get him hit the blonde hard. Giving up on the keys in his panicked state Joey began on bang desperately on the door, screaming his lungs out as he did so.

After a couple of seconds footsteps could be heard and the door swung open to reveal a very angry CEO. The anger quickly slipped from the brunette's face however when he saw the blood on his door step and the shaking Joey.

"Hay, Seto…" was all the teen could say before his legs gave out.

XXX

The doctor had treated Joey quickly and revealed to the sapphire eyes teen that the wound wasn't anything serious and Joey had only blacked out from shock and would get over it. That didn't stop him sitting on the edge of the blonde's bed, watching over him protectively and gently stroking the hair from his face.

_Joey could have died!_ The thought struck the brunette hard and he had to stop his own hand from shaking. _He could have died!_ The statement wouldn't leave his head.

_He could have died and you wouldn't have even realised! He could have died in a cold dark street! He could have died __**alone**__!_

Seto pulled his hand back from the other teens head, the appendage was definitely shaking now.

He had never wanted the teen to die; he wasn't that cruel, no matter what people thought. It was different now though, now Joey meant so much more to him than just someone he fought with at school. He was his friend, his confident and…more. He had come to mean so much more than just all that. The CEO didn't even want to think of a day without seeing the blonde and he especially didn't want him to die. What he wanted was for Joey to live and to feel the same way as him. To _like_ him.

Like how Seto _liked _Joey.

He wouldn't know right now though if the blonde felt the same way and he was pretty sure he would never gather the courage to ask him. He would protect him in every way he could though. In that moment Seto promised to do everything he could to make sure the blond didn't die somewhere alone. He promised that he would protect Joey from everyone that wished to harm him to the best of his abilities and that he would do everything in his power to make the blonde smile.

Standing quickly the teen bent down above the blonde and moved the golden bags from his forehead before pressing his lips to the tanned forehead in a gentle kiss. Sweeping out the room with a look of determination on his face Seto took one last look at the blonde before shutting the door quietly. He had some people to find and when he did they were going to pay!


	27. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

It was a week after the attack and everything was back to normal. After the incident Seto had been even more hell bent on catching the people that did it and hadn't stopped working in days, locking himself in his office trying desperately to find the culprits. Mokuba and Joey had begun to worry and after three days of banging and shouting at the door the blonde had finally just gone and picked the lock. Joey had had to bodily carry Seto into his bedroom, _literally_. The smaller teen had shown that he had impressive strength for his size by lifting the bigger CEO up from his chair and giving him a fireman's lift while Mokuba shut down and unplugged the computer.

Seto had been shouting for ages, saying how he had to catch the culprits and throwing insults at both of them. Most Joey had ignored but he couldn't take it when the brunette called him Mutt for the first time in months. It was the tears gathering in his eyes that finally stopped the older teens ranting and made him realise what he was saying. The CEO ha continuously apologised after that and pulled Joey into a warm hug, asking for his forgiveness.

Joey had told him that he just wanted Seto to rest and stop destroying himself and that's what the CEO had done. They had spent all day lying in the brunette's bed, sleeping sometimes, or just softly talking to each other for the entire day. Seto had apologised again after that and Joey had forgiven him, glad that he had his Seto back.

The blonde continued walking down the dirty pavement and couldn't help but smile as he looked down at his wrist. His amber eyes glowing with contentment and happiness.

A surprise had come to the smaller teen when Seto had asked to speak to him in private. Joey had agreed, not understanding what the CEO wanted. He had been shocked when the brunette produced a fine bracelet.

It was made of a shinning silver metal and Joey loved how it caught the light. The bracelet itself was actually a long Japanese dragon, cut into parts and connected by small chains to make it flexible. When he moved his wrist just right the dragon appeared to be flying gracefully through the sky. The eye of the beast had a small blue sapphire imbedded in it and the blonde loved how it reminded him of Seto. Normally he wouldn't accept such expensive things but when the CEO was giving it to him Joey had found he just couldn't say no.

That was the time Joey also found out that he was developing feelings for the brunette.

_Deep_ feelings.

Not knowing how to act with these kinds of feelings Joey had smiled and blushed embarrassingly. It was also because of this revelation that he was walking to the book shop on his day off, in an effort to calm down and lose himself in work. Seto had taken Mokuba to the zoo for the day and although Joey had been invited he thought the brothers deserved sometime alone together.

"Michiko!" Joey called as he entered_ 'Somnium _Books', expecting a cheerful and an ecstatic greeting in reply.

He was therefore very shocked and surprised when all he heard was silence. Looking around he noticed that there was no one in the book shop. Growing even more uncomfortable Joey moved towards the register.

"Michiko!" he called again, there was still no reply.

Thinking that she could be in the back room he opened the door.

And froze.

Michiko was in the room but Joey couldn't focus on that at the moment. All he could see was the gun pointing at her head and the man that was wielding it. The shaggy blonde hair was dirty and five day old stubble covered his chin. His nose was crooked from where it had been broken and mended wrongly and the clothes he wore were worn and faded. There was no mistaking those eyes, though.

Eyes that would look exactly like his own if they weren't filled with malice and greed. If they weren't looking at him with a slightly mad but still bone chilling stare.

"Hallo Joseph" the man said in a calm voice, "you and I need to have a little talk."

Joey couldn't move, he couldn't _breathe_! His _father!_ His father was _here!_ He thought he had lost him. That he had seen the evil man for the last time when he ran away almost four years ago. How could he be here? How could he _know?_

"I suggest, Joseph, that you don't try and escape, otherwise your friend here" he nudged Michiko's temple with the gun barrel, "might end up splattered all over your lovely wall." He sneered devilishly, as if he enjoyed the idea. "You'll be clearing her up for weeks."

Michiko made a noise of alarm but it came out muffled. It was then that Joey realised she was gagged. Her eyes were wide and fearful, pleading with him to do something. He couldn't let her die.

Clearing his suddenly dry throat Joey somehow found the strength to speak and was rather proud when his voice came out calm and collected. Not at all like he was feeling at the time. "Don't hurt her. Let her go, she's got nothing to do with this. This is something between you and me. Let her go and I'll do what you say. Then we can settle this."

The older man smirked, "sounds good, let's go." The man stood up, dragging Michiko along with him. The blonde noticed that her hands were tied securely behind her back. Keeping his face blank and masking his worry Joey started moving backwards out the door when the older Wheeler motioned with the gun.

Taking slow steps out towards the exit, Joey stopped suddenly.

"Keep going!" shouted the other man.

"Let her go first," he replied, not backing down despite the gun levelled at him. Mr. Wheeler grunted in protest but released Michiko, flinging her behind him to the floor. The gun was now pointed at Joey.

"There! I let her go. Now outside is a blue van. You'll go and walk to it casually and get in the passenger seat. If you try to run I will either shoot you through the window or I'll shoot the girl. Now go!"

Slowly Joey pushed against his every instinct and turned around to face the door, his back to his farther. Opening it he was briefly blinded by the bright sun and had to squint to see the large shape of a blue van a couple of meters down the street. Making slow, deliberate movements he began to move towards it.

The blonde's mind was racing, trying to find a way to escape while keeping Michiko and himself alive. He knew his dad, knew what he had become and knew without a doubt that he would carry through with his threat…and probably enjoy doing it.

Despite the blondes best efforts the fear was building within him, even more so than when he had been captured in the cell and attacked in the street. He felt almost as sick as when Serenity was taken from him and the teen had to force himself not to throw up. Sweat was running down his back, he could almost feel the eyes of the man he used to call father and the barrel of the gun burning holes in his back. His breathing was beginning to speed up and the sick feeling continued to grow, but he couldn't let him win. Couldn't let that man know he was getting to him, that he was _afraid._

Closing his amber eyes Joey took three large breaths to get himself under control and school his expression once again, like he'd always seen Seto doing with anyone he didn't trust. You couldn't let them see that you were afraid, couldn't let them see that you were human, because they would tear you apart for it.

When he opened his eyes Joey was at the van. Opening the door and getting into the passenger seat he entertained the idea of running but knew he couldn't. Even if he escaped Michiko was still tied up. He doubted that basterd would bother releasing her and with her hands tied it wouldn't be hard for him to go back and kill her. Joey had to stay where he was.

Several minutes past, then the door to the shop opened. The older man walked casually along the street the gun nowhere in sight, but Joey knew he still had it on him. It seemed it only took the basterd three seconds to reach the van, rather than the life time it had felt to Joey. The driver's seat opened and closed, the locks clicked shut and the gun was pointing to his head once again.

"Good boy son, shame you couldn't be this obedient before. The rich bitch of yours must have really broken you in."

Joey said nothing, he was trapped.

The other man smiled, "I'm going to enjoy this."

The engine started up and the blue van pulled away, driving like normal down the road. People on the side walk and on the roads were blissfully unaware to what was going on inside.

The engine roared.

Joey prayed.

XXX

Seto smiled as his brother ran through the door into the house, calling out for Joey to tell him about everything he had done at the zoo. The brunette hung up his trench-coat and let out an exasperated sigh. He loved his brother, he really did, but it still boggled him how much energy the kid could have. Seto thought it was probably his cereal. Nothing natural could be that pink, or orange, or blue, or…in fact, the whole packet screamed E-numbers and sugar. Maybe he should think about taking it away from the raven haired menace.

There was the sound of doors being opened as Mokuba continued to scream for Joey. The teen decided to fix himself a drink. It only took five seconds before the ten year old whirlwind entered the kitchen after him. Mokuba was losing his touch.

"Seto, where's Joey? I can't find him in the house."

"Hummmm," the brunette replied distractedly, he was in the middle of getting just the right concentration of fruit juice, "Maybe he went out."

"But there is no note. You know Joey wouldn't go out without leaving a note."

"…Maybe he just forgot this once." He too was wondering where the blonde was now. In all the time he had been living with the two Kaiba's Joey had always told them if he was going out or left a note. The fact that he didn't was strange and a bad feeling was beginning to settle in the CEOs stomach.

"He might have gone to work. It helps him relax."

"Oh, I will go phone him," and the whirl wind was off again...To be back ten seconds later. Mokuba really was losing his touch.

"Seto, no one's picking up."

"What? But the store isn't closed. There should be someone there. Try again, and this time let it ring for a few minutes before assuming no one's coming."

"Ok!" replied Mokuba, oblivious to the teasing and as chirpy as ever. Finishing his concoction of fruit juice the older Kaiba began sipping on his drink as he waited for someone to pick up the phone that was currently pressed to his younger brother's ear. After a full three minuets he frowned.

"Are they still not picking up?"

A vigorous shaking of the head was his reply. "Nope, still ringing. Maybe they're not there."

Frown deepening, Seto put down his fruit juice and stalked towards the front door. Grabbing his trench coat once again off the stand.

"Find Rowland and stay here Mokuba. I'm going to go check on Joey. Something isn't right." The teen fled out the house, his trench coat billowing behind him and the door slammed closed.

The frown was still in place as Seto drove down Dominos streets. Taking his personal car for once instead of the limo. Joey should have left a note. There should have been someone at the store. Something wasn't right.

The sign for_ 'Somnium _Books' came into sight. Pulling over, the teen stalked towards the store and flung the door open. What was inside stopped him in his tracks. The bad feeling in his stomach increased tenfold.

Lying on the floor, with her eyes closed and in a light doze was Michiko. Now, although this might have been strange it wouldn't necessarily be bad, or a reason to panic. Michiko was strange after all. No, what made him panic was the fact a gag was tied around her mouth and her hands bound together behind her back. She looked like she had just escaped a kidnapping. He was almost right.

Eyes wide, Seto kneeled down and started undoing the ties around her wrists.

"Michiko! Michiko! Wake up Michiko! What happened? Are you alright? Who did this?" a sinking feeling over came the brunette. "…Where is Joey?"

"Mhummm, mmmmmm!" she screamed from behind the gag. Seto franticly undid the piece of cloth.

"Seto, that you?" her voice was croaky from screaming so much.

"Yes, tell me what happened!" Her eyes widened, tears forming in the black orbs.

"Oh, God! Joey! He took Joey! Joey went with him. He said he was going to teach him a lesson. He had a gun!"

That was all Seto needed to hear.

Whipping out his mobile he speed dialled Rowland.

"Rowland, its Kaiba. Something has happened to Joey, someone has taken him" _Again!_ Seto closed his eyes in anguished. _Why couldn't he keep Joey safe! Why did the blonde always end up paying for his mistakes!_

"The same people as before sir?" asked Rowland.

"Not sure, Michiko said it was just one man. Send a few of your people over to'_ Somnium _Books'. I'm going after Joey."

"No, sir! Wai…" but Seto wasn't listening. Snapping the phone shut and disconnecting Rowland, Seto made sure Michiko got to her feet and told her to stay there before flying out the door for a second time. Seto was in his car and speeding down the street in a few seconds like a bat out of hell.

Connecting his phone, the CEO watched closely as the on-board screen came up with a map of Domino and the surrounding area. A small red blinking dot appeared indicating where Joey was.

Of course, that didn't mean he was _alive_.

Speeding down the street, Seto prayed.


	28. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Joey knew where they were even before he stepped out of the van. How could he ever forget? It was the place he had grown up in for eight years of his life. Joey was back home.

His farther grinned manically when he saw the recognition on the blonde's face.

"Remember this place boy? Remember how I would lock you in your room? Put you in your place and use you like the stupid toy you are"

Joey felt sick, every bad memory coming back. Everything that had ever been said by his father. Everything said by everyone else, from his mother, to the neighbours, his old school mates, right up until the kidnapping not long ago. How did he ever think he had gotten over it? How did he ever think he had risen above it all? How did he think that he didn't deserve it? How did he think that if he ignored it ever happened it would go away? The Gods obviously thought him filthy and wanted him to live a life of hell. Why else would he keep coming back to this nightmare?

The feeling of sickness increased when his father hauled him from the van and towards the mangy block of flats.

As they made their way up the graffiti stained halls Joey noticed the differences to the place. Something about knowing he was most likely going to die soon made him want to take in as much detail as possible. To burn the images into his mind, even if they were of a disgusting apartment building.

The blond saw that the walls were even dirtier than they had been before; trash littered the corridors, old crisp packets, cigarette buts and anything else you could think of. Several doors were knocked in as they made their way down the third floor corridor. He could see inside the ransacked apartments, the trashed pieces of furniture, broken windows and...

That's when he noticed the silence.

There should have been shouting, slamming of doors, noises from T.V programs and all the other noises you get from having lots of people crammed into a small place with extremely thin walls. There wasn't any of this though. Just silence.

"Don't bother boy. No one's here." Joey didn't know how his father had known what he was thinking but hearing his suspicions confirmed just made it all the worse. "Place is up for demolition. Been cleaned out. It's just you and me here boy." The man grinned sadistically and the spark of madness in his eye brightened. "It'll be just like old times."

The sickness was almost overwhelming now. The teen could feel his legs shaking and was slightly surprised he was still managing to stand. The gun was still levelled at him but as they neared the familiar door to his old home Joey knew that soon it would be the last of his worries. The man wielding the weapon was far more dangerous.

The beating was the worst he had ever experienced. Even when he was being held captive by the 'Boss' and his thugs he didn't feel as hopeless as he did now. Another kick landed against his chest and he curled up further to protect his stomach while he coughed up even more blood. A large hand grabbed his shaggy hair and dragged him up by it, causing the scalp to tear in some places. Through the pain Joey could feel the sickly feeling of blood coating his head.

"How is it boy, being put back in your place? I might have used you like the pleasure toy you are but even I'm disgusted by you now. Did you really think your hot shot boyfriend would ever want you once he knew you were damaged goods? Fucking Mutt!"

Joey was thrown to the floor once again, jarring his cracked ribs and other injuries. His farther began kicking his back, screaming about how filthy he was and cursing him repeatedly. Joey didn't notice though, just felt the despair over whelm him.

A small doubt had been with him ever since Seto had let him into his home. It had grown when he discovered he had feelings for the CEO and now it had been brought to light, immense pain coming with it. His father was right; Seto would never have wanted him. It was best this way; he was getting what he deserved.

When his farther grabbed his hair to make him face him again he was almost glad it would soon be over. However, once the gun was pointed at his face something, an unknown preservation instinct and passion for life made him speak up, desperately trying to stall for time. Anything to live just a few moments more.

"H-How did y-you find me?" His voice was raspy and muffled from trying to speak through the blood in his mouth. His farther sneered at him for a moment and then smiled sarcastically.

"Well, I suppose I could tell you. Just so you can understand what's going to happen to your precious CEO"

_Seto! Something was going to happen to Seto! Oh God!... Wait, why would his farther care about Seto. It was him he had a grudge against. What was going on?_ Despite his rising panic Joey wisely kept his mouth shut and let his farther spill everything by himself. If there was two things he knew his farther liked to do it was gloat and listen to the sound of his own voice.

"Well, I got some help, you see. You angered some really important people with your little stunt of releasing your boyfriend's brother and then escaping Mutt." _The kidnapping! What did this have to do with the kidnapping?_

"S-So the people who kidnapped me a-asked you to kill me? Get me o-out of their way?"

A harsh, bitter laugh erupted from Mr. Wheeler's mouth. Joey shuddered, how many times had he heard that laugh when his father had been beating him, or watching other people beat him, or...doing something else while he screamed and pleaded for them to stop?

"No Mutt. Don't be stupid. They're after your boyfriend. Their employers want to take over his company. Leach of him and make it legal while they hold him to their commands.

"Unfortunately the rich bitch's brother is watched to closely, but _you_, his lover, are the perfect target. Should have known you would be a pathetic ponce, still bending over backwards for those better than you. Tell me, does he take you from behind, like the Dog you are? I bet you enjoy every second of it." Spit flew from the ghastly mouth and Joey had to resist the urge to wipe his face. Not that he was sure he could have, his body was tired and battered and his arm had been strangely numb for some time.

"B-But they paid you to _kidnap_ me. N-not _kill_ me! You will not get your pay. They'll come after you!"

The hand holding his hair gave a jerky shake, further ripping it from the roots. The teen let out a pained gasp but refused to scream.

"Stupid _Mutt_! Do you think I am as dumb as you? I got them to pay me half upfront. Once I'm done with you I'll use it to get away...and now" a smile twisted its way onto the man's face, "it's a pleasure for me to tell you it's time for you to die."

The gun was brought to his head. Joey closed his eyes, waiting for the bang of the releasing bullet. The pain that was sure to come. Then death.

_Bang!_


	29. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

_Bang!_

The door flew open, hitting the wall of the apartment. Mr. Wheeler hesitated a moment from pulling the gun trigger to glance at the source of the noise. The intruder flew at the dirty blonde man, striking him right in the stomach.

_Bang!_

Joey cried out as the white hot pain rushed through him. It was so intense that he failed to appreciate that he _still could_ scream. His hands flew to his shoulder where the pain was coming from and felt the sticky substance of blood seeping through his shirt. Curling around his injured limb and trying not to hurt his other injuries to much the blonde forced his eyes to open, watery from the unshed tears of agony.

He could see two figures. One was tall and shrouded in white standing above the other. The other man was large and staring at the white man in obvious surprise. The surprise turned to rage and he brought something black in his hand to point it at the white figure. However the white figure had a wild look about him and he launched at the man with lightning speed, taking the object from his hand.

Everything was blurry and he felt dizzy from the pain. The haze that had filled Joey's mind slowly cleared as his senses came back to him. _Seto!_ It was _Seto!_ Seto was fighting his farther. How had he got here? What was he _doing?_

Before the teen could even begin to think of the answers Seto had taken the butt of the gun and hit Mr. Wheeler across the head, **hard**. The man slumped to the floor and some blood started pooling at his head from the wound but Joey didn't care about that. He could only look blearily at his Seto.

Seto stood over the unconscious form of Mr. Wheeler; the red mist that had surrounded his vision at the sight of his beaten and bloody puppy with a gun pointed at his head slowly disappeared. The rage washed out of him, leaving him feeling almost empty. Flinging the blood stained gun into a corner of the room he slowly turned to face his puppy.

The blonde stared at him with confused and unfocused eyes. Kneeling down slowly, Joeys dull amber orbs following his every move, he raised his hand to cup the smaller teens face.

"Seto..."

"Oh, puppy. What did he do to you?... I'm so sorry...This never should have happened." The brunette said, almost choking with the intensity of his emotions. "Let's...Let's get you to the hospital. C-can you stand?" Seto got up to help the blonde to his feet but Joey gripped his arm franticly, looking around with panic stricken eyes at the apartment.

"_No!_ No! D-don't leave! Please don't leave. I don't want you to leave...Stay!...Stay with me! I don't want to go to the hospital...don't make me go...don't leave!"

"Shhhh, shhh puppy calm down. I'm not leaving; I'm staying right here...look at me. Look at me! Shhhh, everything's alright." The taller teen cradled his puppy close to him; the blonde was almost in his lap, running his hands calmingly though his golden matted hair. Looking at him with his sapphire eyes Seto tried to covey that he wasn't going to leave his puppy.

Joey was almost having a panic attack but the brunettes ministrations were helping to calm him. His breathing slowed from its erratic pace and he focused on the eyes of the other teen. Suddenly the amber eyes had tears in them and Joey released his first heart ranching sob.

"I-I want t-to go h-home. Take me home Seto. I want to go home.._.please!"_ The CEO could almost feel his heart breaking at the anguish in his puppy's voice. Leaning forward and placing feartherlight kisses along the smaller teens cheeks to take the tears away he cradled the blondes head to his chest.

"Don't worry puppy. I'll take you home now. It will be ok. Everything will be ok" Dimly Seto realised that a wonderfully warm feeling had invaded him at the blonde's words. He had called Kaiba mansion _home_.

That was how Rowland found them. With Joey sitting in Seto's lap and sobbing into his chest while the CEO rubbed his back and ran his fingers through the blonde hair, muttering nonsense words of reassurances and telling him over and over that it would be ok. Mr. Wheeler's body was still sprawled out unconscious on the floor and Rowland's men moved to make sure he was properly detained.

Then they went home.

XXX

The brunette gently ran his thumb over the back of the blondes hand as he lay unconscious on the bed for the fifth time. The private doctors that he had hired had done everything they could to help the teen and were confident that he would be fine after some bed rest. That didn't stop the older teen from worrying though.

The sleeping figure shifted and Seto's eyes snapped open from the light doze he had been in.

"Puppy?" he called gently. There was more movement and then a groan as the golden haired teen cracked his eyes open. Seto almost smiled when Joey whined and immediately shut them again against the bright lights of the room.

"Come on Joey, it's time to wake up. Don't worry you are safe. You're back home."

"Ho...Se...t..o..." gently propping the smaller teen against some pillows so he was in a sitting position the CEO pressed the tip of a glass of water to the blonde's lips.

"Here puppy, drink this." Half a glass of water later and Joey had had enough. He was now sitting up properly on the bed and staring blearily at Seto through hazy amber eyes.

"Seto?"

"I'm here puppy." The CEO gently brushed the golden bangs behind Joey's ears. "There's no need to worry."

"What happened? Where am I? My farther, what happened to my farther? Is anyone else hurt?" The blonde was becoming panicky, his breathing becoming faster as he began hyperventilating. Wanting to calm the teen down Seto got onto the bed opposite Joey and pulled the shaking teen into his arms.

The brunette got a strange sense of déjà vu as he rubbed his puppy's back and stroked his hair to calm him down. The other teen stiffened to begin with but then melted into the embrace, wrapping his own arms around Seto and placing his face in the brunette's chest, basking in the warmth coming from the other.

"It's ok Joey. Your farther has been caught and taken into custody. They're interrogating him now and he's going to be jailed for life for attempted murder. You have several injuries and need rest but should be fine in a few days. No one else was hurt."

"What about Michiko? Is she ok?" Joey mumbled, not bothering to lift his face from its place pressed against Seto's shirt.

"She's fine to. A little shaken up, but otherwise fine. It's you we're all worried about puppy."

"...Puppy?"

"Oh, err...I mean," Seto stumbled over his words and his hands halted in their comforting gestures as a red tinge stole across his cheeks. He hadn't realised that all this time he had been calling the blonde by his own little pet name. "You don't mind do you? ...You just remind me sometime...I mean you look so cute, and...well..._what are you laughing at?"_

The brunette could feel the blonde shaking beneath his hands and looked down to find amber orbs filled with mirth staring up at him. _Damn_! Joey really didn't know how ravishing he looked sometimes.

"It's funny" declared the blonde. "The mighty Seto Kaiba stumbling over his words." The brunette scowled but the smaller teen just seemed to find that more amusing and started laughing all over again. A small smile played across the CEO's lips, glad that he could cheer up his puppy. "...I don't mind you know, you calling me puppy."

Seto blinked once in surprise, "you don't?"

The blonde shook his head and placed his cheek against the older teen, listening to Seto's steady heart beat through the fabric of his shirt. "As long as you don't call me Mutt. Calling me puppy is fine...but then I get to call you Dragon, ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine puppy," the older teen rested his own cheek against the mop of golden hair and secured his arms tighter around Joey. They rested like that in content silence for a while but the CEO knew he couldn't stay like that. There were questions that needed to be asked and things to be done, despite how much he wished he could just stay like that with his puppy.

"Joey I need you to tell me, did your farther say anything about why he was trying to get you. We found out that a lot of money stashed in the van he had. Did he mention anything to you?" The blonde immediately stiffened in the brunettes grip and Seto began once again to run his hands up and down the teens back in an effort to calm him. Joey didn't move his head from its place resting against the older teen but he did close his eyes in pain as he was forced to recall the event, and every other bad thing that had ever come from being with his farther. His past was something he wished to forget.

"Yeah, he said a few things."

"What did he say?" the CEO didn't wish to see the other teen in so much pain but he had to know what happened.

"He was hired by the same people that kidnapped Mokuba, Serenity and me. He said that the company employing the people to do the kidnapping wanted to hold you to their commands and leach money off you. So that all the paper work would be legal and that no one could tell who did it. He didn't tell me the name of the company."

"So he was meant to kill you?"

"...No. he was just meant to kidnap me and ruff me up. They thought I was your lover and decided I was easier to get at than Mokuba. They probably hired my farther because I had got away from them before and they thought that he knew me better so he would know how to get to me. He tried to kill me because of what he thinks I did to him and because he's always hated me. He got paid half the money up front and said he was going to run with it once he got me out of the way." The blonde took and huge breath which turned into a strangled sob as he tried to stop everything from getting to him. It was becoming too much to hold in much longer. "That's it; he didn't tell me anything else."

"Thank you Puppy. All this is going to help us get these people once and for all. Now I am going to go and tell Rowland while you rest and go back to sleep." The brunette tried to get the blonde to let go of him and lie back down on the bed but Joey just clung on to him harder.

"No! Please, please don't go. You can't go. I don't want to be alone! Please!...I don't like being alone...don't leave me alone."

Seeing his puppy in such distress Seto changed his plans, lying down on the bed with the blonde still in his arms he pulled the teen close and curled around him protectively while whispering soothing nonsense to get Joey to calm down.

"It's ok puppy. I won't leave you alone. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. Shhhh..." Once he was sure that the blonde was calm and dropping off to sleep again he reached behind him onto the bed side table and picked up his mobile phone. Calling Rowland he told him everything that Joey had said before shutting off the device and replacing it on the table.

Looking at the sleeping teen beside him Seto couldn't help but think he wouldn't mind having the blonde in the same bed as him again and how it felt good to fall asleep with his puppy safely in his arms. He was sure there was more going on with Joey's dad than just this incident and once Joey had told him and was getting the help he needed… well then he was going to consider perusing the blonde to make him his partner and lover.

With that thought Seto fell asleep.


	30. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

The two teens woke up near noon the next day. Someone had been in and left a selection of food on a plate. The blonde was wrapped up in Seto's arms and was tempted to pretend to go back to sleep so that he would have a reason to remain there. He was sure that he would never get another chance to be held in bed by his love interest like this ever again, so certain that Seto would never want him.

He never got a chance to put his plan into action though as Seto said, "time to get up puppy"

Joey slowly looked up at Seto, his amber eyes still dulled from the horrors of yesterday. Sitting up so he could lean against the head board he made no move to get away from the brunette and insisted on gripping his arm tightly.

Seto sighed when he felt the death grip on his arm. He had thought that Joey was getting over everything in his own way. He had been acting normally and not even his friends had seemed concerned that he was heading towards a break down. He needed to get Joey to open up and speak about what has happened to him. The CEO also had a feeling that there was a lot more the blonde needed to tell someone than just about the kidnappings, he just wasn't sure if Joey trusted him enough for that person to be him.

Placing the tray of food across their laps he tried to encourage the blonde to eat. "You need to have something puppy, you haven't eaten in almost a whole day." His attempts were half hearted though as the brunette didn't feel like eating either.

After almost half an hour of picking at their food, in which the hand on the CEOs arm hadn't diminished its death grip, the older teen decided it was time to see if Joey was ready to talk.

"Puppy...I need you to tell me about your farther and what caused your panic attack last night. I can understand why someone would have one after an experience like that but you didn't before. I can understand that you don't want to be left alone, but I thought you were getting over everything and getting better...puppy can you please tell me. What did he do to you? What's the matter?" The blonde looked sorrowfully at the brunette before whimpering.

Letting go of the CEOs arm Joey drew his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself in a defensive position, his head buried in his knees. Scared by the sudden change in the teen Seto moved to reassure him and try to get him to relax.

"It's ok...you don't have to tell me now...but you should tell someone. Do you want me to phone one of your friends? I can get Yugi or Tristan for you if you like, do you want that?"

Joey shook his head but still didn't look up. Taking a deep shuddering breath Joey reminded himself of all the kind things Seto had done for him. Talking was going to be hard but he did trust Seto not to use what he said against him, he just didn't trust that the brunette wouldn't be disgusted of him when he finished. He was almost certain that the CEO would no longer wish to be anywhere near him but he did need to tell someone; he had been keeping it in for too long.

"You know my parents are divorced right?" Seto nodded, the blonde didn't see it but continued to talk anyway. "W-We used to be a good family. My Mum, my Dad and I. My Mum had always wanted a girl though so when she got pregnant with Serenity we were all really happy. She started to ignore me more for my sister but not by much and not enough for a small child at the time to notice. We were still all happy" another racking breath, Seto lifted one hand and ran it through the mop of golden hair. Amber eyes were lifted briefly to look at him but then lowered again as the story continued. The older teen didn't stop his caresses. "Then Dad got laid of work.

"Mum would go on at my Dad about getting a new job but when he told her to try and get one as well she refused. See, Mum came from a rather wealthy family but Dad had got her pregnant with me so that's why she married him. These things normally don't work so it was probably inevitable that the rows started. The lack of money was just an excuse. Eventually Dad started drinking and that was the last of it for Mum. She issued a divorce and there was a custody battle for me and Serenity.

"Dad was a no good farther but the judge didn't see past his lies and no one listens to small children so when I tried to tell them about his drinking they ignored me. Mum was given a choice to take either me or Serenity to go and live in the states with her. She had always adored her little princess so she chose Serenity over me."

The blonde tried to take a deep breath but it just turned into a sob. Slowly unwrapping Joey's arms from around him Seto pulled the smaller teen in for an embrace. His fingers ran through the blonde's hair while his other made soothing circles on his back.

"Oh, puppy..." it was almost killing Seto to see his beloved in so much pain but Joey needed to get it out and Seto had a feeling that the story was going to get a lot worse before it got better.

"Dad continued to drink and we had to move to where you found me with him."

"You mean that horrible apartment building?" asked Seto.

Joey nodded into the taller teen's chest, "yeah, home sweet home. Once we moved there he only got worse. He started to really abuse me then; beating me all the time, starving me, shouting every curse under the sun. He blamed me for losing his job, for Mum leaving with Serenity and the fact we had to live in an apartment so he said I should be the one earning the money for us to keep it.

"At first we just about got by on benefits but Dad was greedy and always wanted more. I was really isolated at school. It was a rough place so I got beat up there too. It was either learn how to defend myself or submit to my classmates every whim so I learnt how to look after myself, street fighting and stuff like that. I would challenge some of the kids and bet that I could beat them and get money for Dad that way. However, once I got older everyone knew to stay away from me and the people on the streets were to likely to just shoot me so there was no one left for me to fight."

There was a long pause; Seto sensed that Joey was stealing himself to tell him the next part of the story. He squeezed the smaller teen in his embrace reassuringly and waited for him to continue. A dampness on his shirt revealed the blonde was crying.

"After that he decided to...decided to...sell me..." the teen's voice trailed off till it was no more than a whisper. Seto blinked once and tried to comprehend what his puppy was trying to tell him, feeling like a bucket of ice water was being tipped over his head was slowly sliding down his spine.

"What do you mean by that Joey" he knew what the teen meant but he didn't want to believe it. As they said, ignorance was bliss.

"M-My Dad would s-set up m-meetings with c-c-clients, at least that's w-what he called t-them, t-they would then c-come to our h-h-house and would wait f-form me i-in the s-special r-room and then..."

"Yes puppy" Seto's voice sound horribly loud in the quiet of the room, despite it being only and a whisper.

"T-They would u-u-use m-me...for p-p-pleasure."

The silence of the room was deafening, all Seto could feel was the increasing shaking of Joey shoulders as his cries became all the more heart wrenching, everything else just felt numb.

The ice water feeling had engulfed him now and Seto did nothing as the smaller teen began to try and struggle out of his embrace.

'_He was raped!'_ The thought seemed to be stuck on repeat in his head, screaming at him again and again and again. Then the pure blinding rage filled him completely, gone was the ice water to be replaced by the heat of an exploding volcano. Unbeknown to Seto his sapphire eyes hardened like steal and his grip on the blonde increases tenfold.

'_They raped him! How dare they rape my puppy! How dare they treat my wonderful puppy like a toy to just pass around! I'll get them back! Every last one of them. How dare they touch him! Those scum bags should have felt honoured just to look at someone as beautiful as him. He's mine! No one should be touching my puppy! HOW DARE THEY!'_

The brunette was snapped out of his homicidal raging by the now desperate struggling of the blonde in his arms. Eyes going from murderous to concerned in a heartbeat the teen tried to figure out what the blonde was doing.

"Joey? What's wrong puppy?"

"Don't touch me...don't touch me...Don't Touch Me!...DON'T TOUCH ME!..."

"Joey! Stop it! Calm down," shouted Seto, trying to wrestle the blonde back into a comforting embrace and trap him against his chest. It didn't work though, as the other teen continued to struggle and finally pull away to back up as far as he could on the bed so he was pressed against the head board. He was still screaming and shaking his head violently while he wrapped his armas around himself defensivly.

"Don't touch me! I'm filthy! You'll get dirty too. I'm just a mutt. A stupid dog. I'm so filthy. A stupid pleasure mutt that's all I am! I'm _filthy! _DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT! Don't say that puppy! You're not filthy, you're wonderful. You are definitely not a mutt or a toy! You're Joey. Please stop this, stop saying your filthy!" Seto cried out as Joey continued to shout about himself being dirty and how Seto shouldn't have been touching him. The CEO was getting desperate now; shouting at Joey wasn't getting through to him. In a desperate move he grabbed the blonde by the arms but this only set him off into more hysterics and causing him to lash out, kicking the brunette in the chest until he let go.

"HOW?... How am I wonderful? I'm filthy. No one wants me, no one could possibly care!"

"What about your friends Joey? They care for you," the brunette was adding anger to the desperation now. How could Joey be saying these things? How could he _believe_ them?

"They don't know! If they knew they would think I was filthy too. They would realise I'm just a mutt. They probably just pity me because I'm poor and stupid. No one could ever actually love me for just being Joey. No one wants used, dirty, pathetic trash like me. No one could possibly love me!"

"That's not true!" Seto shouted back just a fierce. He needed to get Joey through this latest break down; he hated hearing the one he had come to hold so dear say these things about himself. Couldn't Joey see how he feels about him? It was breaking the CEO's heart.

"Why? Why would someone ever love me? I've been used, I'm dirty. I'm not rich, or intelligent, or generous, or nice, or beautiful," tears were streaming down the blondes face and his body began shaking, "I'm not any of those things. Just filthy! Who could love me?" Joey screamed the last sentence and ripped right through the brunette's heart.

Seto decided he had had enough and it was time to end it. Gripping the blonde's arms forcefully this time and holding his against the head board he said only one word.

"ME!"

Then their lips were pressed together and Seto closed his eyes at the feeling. The blonde beneath him could only sit there wide eyes while he tried to process the information. The panic and hysteria was seeping out of him only to be replaced by the incredibly feeling of warm, slightly dry lips pressed against his own.

Joey couldn't do anything as his mind seemed to have shut down but his heart was screaming for joy. _'This is what you've been waiting for. What are you doing? Kiss back!' _the blonde was still having trouble comprehending the demand but his lips obviously understood perfectly as he slowly pressed back against the ones moving against them.

Seto felt Joey stiffen at first and was scared that he would start screaming again, he didn't want to open his eyes unless he saw disgust shinning the amber orbs of the other teen. Instead he started to move his lips against the blonde's, trying to get a reaction. He felt Joey relaxed and was glad that he seemed to have calmed down from his panic attack.

Elation over took Seto as he felt the first shy response from the blonde's lips against his own. Pressing harder he managed to get Joey to try and copy his movements while falling into ecstasy.

'_Is this what it normally feels like when you kiss someone you love? No wonder people do it.' _Was all Seto could think. His thoughts were being closely mirrored by the smaller teen as Joey let his eyes slid shut and enjoy the sensations. He still wasn't quite sure what was going on but his heart was in charge and at the moment and it seemed to like what was happening.

Both teens didn't try to make the kiss any deeper than it already was, however when they parted they both appeared flushed and breathless.

Staring into the amber eyes of his puppy Seto couldn't help but think he was breathtaking even with the tear tracks down his face and the puffy, blood shot eyes. Along with the messy blonde hair that was sweaty and clinging to his angelic face. No meaning to the CEO voiced his thoughts out loud.

"You're beautiful" he breathed. Joey gasped and the brunette realised what he just said causing his cheeks to flush. Pulling back from the blonde's face so that there was more than a centimetre between them he determinedly looked anywhere but at his puppy while trying to hide his embarrassment.

"It is good that you're calm now. You needed to rest; your wounds still need to heal. You should sleep. I've...I've got to go and get some work done. I'll come and talk to you later when you're better and well rested. Bye puppy." With that Seto fled the room. He wasn't used to these emotional things.

Inside the room, Joey slowly uncurled himself and got back under the blankets. A detached part of his mind noticing the bed was rather cold without someone to share it with you. The rest of him lifted a hand to his tingling and slightly swollen lips and tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Joey didn't get to sleep for a long time that night.


	31. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Seto was working furiously on his laptop. Joey' dad had given them all the information they needed to finaly catch the people that had kidnapped Mokuba. The brunette's fingers stopped tapping for a brief second as he tried to get his rage under control at the thought of Mr. Wheeler. Eventually, when he was more likely to continue searching with the computer instead of putting his fist through it the tapping continued. He was using a modified search engine that he had designed for Kaiba Corp. to narrow down the possible perpetrators. He just had to finish putting in the last of the data and hit enter. Almost finished. Done.

Seto sat back as the computer processed everything. He knew it may give false results but Seto was confident in his own ability to design reliable technology. In another room Rowland and his team had been doing the same thing but without the aid of the program since last night. They had checked and hacked a few companies to see if it could be a few prime suspects but they had all come up clean so far. They were hoping the programme would narrow down their search.

A beep signified that the computer was done.

Seto peered at the screen with piercing eyes before picking up the desk phone next to his hand and hitting the speed dial.

"Rowland, yes the programme is done. I'm sending you the list now. 13 results. Take a look at _Reus Corp. _first. I have got a feeling about it. Yes I know I'm not the one to usually go with gut feelings, Joey must be rubbing off on me"

_Thinking of the puppy, how long am I going to avoid him. This isn't like me. To be scared of a little confrontation. This isn't a board meeting though, or a rival company or even a fight and I will admit I have absolutely no idea what to do. How the _hell _are you supposed to talk to someone who you kissed, right after they had a breakdown, and then ran away from? Why the hell is it so complicated?...Maybe I should just let him lead and if he asks questions…I'll answer truthfully, despite how daunting that prospect is._

With that decided Seto decided not to waste any more time and get it over with…before he lost his nerve. "Rowland, I want a full investigation. If you find the culprits then you know what to do. Don't disturb me unless something happens to Mokuba or the house is burning down. If I want to speak to you I will call. Good night." The phone was placed back into the cradle effectively cutting off Rowland's response.

Standing in front of Joey's front door the brunette once again had to draw up his courage. He knew what he felt for Joey was deep and he didn't want the blonde to leave but he was rather stubbornly not giving a name to his feelings. If he got rejected then he could always pass them off as something less significant and ignore them in the future. However, knowing this still didn't make it easier to knock three times on the dark wooden door.

Patience was not one of Seto's strong points and in his nervous state he was even worse so without waiting for an answer the CEO swung into the room. Stopping in the doorway he drank in the sight of a slightly sleepy Joey dressed in only an oversize t-shirt and boxers. The brunette quickly got control of his libido and averted his gaze to the blondes face. He was pretty sure that if Joey rejected him the smaller teen wouldn't want ogling like that. Opening his mouth to say something the words were lost and Seto quickly closed it again with a snap. He waited expectantly for Joey to be the first to say something.

"Seto," the blonde blinked at him slowly before smiling beautifully "you came back?"

So taken aback by the question Seto responded automatically. "Of course I did puppy." He only noticed his mistake a few seconds latter and cast a worried look at the blonde, not sure if he would mind the use of a pet name after what had happened. Joey didn't seem to notice though, he was still smiling broadly.

"I wasn't sure you would after the brakedown I had…and then after what I told you about me…and then you ran away." Seto closed his eyes to berate himself for putting such suffering in his puppy's voice. He knew he shouldn't have done that. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to be near me anymore." The blonde finished, his fingers fiddled nervously with the hem of his over sized t-shirt.

Seto wasn't sure what Joey thought about his confession or even his actions afterwards but the dread of that didn't stop the brunette from wanting to comfort the smaller teen. Moving slowly he crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Joey followed his movements the whole way with his eyes. Seto tried to look at him directly but his mussed up blonde hair covered most of his face and he was still fiddling with his shirt.

Reaching out carefully Seto gently tucked a silky strand of hair behind one ear and breathed a sigh of relief when the blonde didn't flinch away.

"Of course I want to be near you puppy. I didn't mean to make you think I didn't and I know I shouldn't have run away. I'm sorry… but I wasn't sure about how you would be feeling after I did what I did."

Joey tilted his head to the side, a habit that Seto was loathed to admit could only be called 'adorable' despite his hatred for the word and asked innocently. "You mean after you kissed me?"

Another sigh from the brunettes lips, this had been what he was dreading. "Yes, and after what I said. I shouldn't have taken advantage like that." He looked carefully at the blonde's face to see his reaction. The amber eyes were filled with confusion and something else he couldn't put a name to but his mind was sure that it was disgust. He had kissed him and not even known if Joey was _gay_!

"You mean you didn't do that just to comfort me? ...You actually meant it?"

It was a ready made excuse, the perfect way out. He could take it and pass this whole thing off as an effort to comfort a friend. Joey would never have to know and it would all be over, but Seto couldn't forget his promise to himself that quickly. He had said he would answer the blonde's questions truthfully and that's what he was going to do.

"I meant it…all of it."

The smaller teen reeled back slightly and looked directly at the brunette for the first time, eyes wide with surprise and the other emotion. Mistaking it for revulsion and suddenly finding that he didn't have the strength to hear his rejection in the form of words the CEO stood quickly, his eyes averted and with a steady gaze on the door that was going to be his means of escape.

He had managed to take half a step away from the bed before his arm was snagged and the blonde recovered his voice.

"Don't go! _Please_ don't run away! I'm not... I don't mind…you meant it, what you said…" the blonde gazed desperately up at the taller teen, "…that you love me?"

Seto gazed at Joey and really looked at him. The blonde had puffy red eyes from where he had been crying, and his hair hung limply in even more disarray than normal.

Seto was sure that Joey wouldn't have stopped him when he stood up and that if he did it would only be to verbally reject him. He hadn't expected the blonde to ask such a loaded question or cling to his arm like he would drown without it. The other emotion was still there, but maybe it wasn't disgust. Looking closer the CEO's breath almost left him when he finally saw that it was _hope_ , not disgust, growing in those liquid amber eyes.

He still had to tell the truth though.

"I…I don't think I am quite _in _love with you. However, I defiantly think I _could_ be soon. I know I am already falling."

The blonde looked at him again for a second, "yeah, me too" and tugging on the brunette arm so that he was close enough to kiss. There was a brief moment of shock for the older teen but it soon disappeared as the sensations washed over him. Moaning he moved so he was kneeling fully on the bed, his hands wrapped around his puppy's head and tangled in his hair to pull the blonde closer into a more fiery kiss.

Joey whimpered when a tongue swiped across his bottom lip for the third time and hesitantly opened up to let it explore his mouth. Both teens' tongues duelled for a while, wrapping around each other and eliciting another moan from the both of them before Joey whimpered once more and surrendered to Seto's dominant nature. Letting the brunette plunder his mouth Seto explored every inch of it, trying to make sure he could claim that he knew it almost as well as his own. Joey let out a breathy moan as they parted, both breathing hard from the lack of air. Joey's arms had found their ways around the CEO's broad shoulders and were holding on tightly as he panted. One of Seto's arms was still in the silky blonde hair and was absentmindedly running through it. The other was firmly planted on his puppy's lower back and was holding the other teen close to his chest.

"…Wow…" Seto breathed, Joey weekly nodded his agreement and let his head drop on to the others shoulder. Seto wondered _what the hell_ he should do know.

There was a pause.

Then…

"Seto…make love to me." The words were muffled but the brunette heard them loud and clear. In his surprise he tried to real back but Joey held on tightly to his shoulders and pressed his face further into the shoulder it was resting on.

"…Puppy?"

"Please…I…_please _make love to me Seto. Make me yours…please"

"Joey you're not ready…after what you've been through…"

"It's alright" the blonde interrupted, rising his head from the other teens shoulder and looking into the brunette worried blue eyes. His own held equal amounts of desperation hope and fear of rejection.

"I know what I have been through and I know most people wouldn't want anyone to touch them after but that's not me. All those men…I never let them have any part of me other than my body. No one ever made love to me; it was all just sex and rape. I want you to have all of me. I want to fully give myself to you like this while I have the chance. I want to put my hopes in you for showing me that it can be a beautiful thing to share between someone you want and pleasurable for both people involved. I'll be fine Seto, but please _don't _say no. I want you…make love to me."

Seto's mouth went dry. What, in the name of Ra, was he supposed to do with that request? In the end it was the pleading desperation in Joey's eyes that decided him.

"You will tell me if it hurts or if I do something that makes you uncomfortable. If you want to stop you say immediately and I will, all right?"

The blonde nodded as he began to move his face closer. "Promise" and then there was no more talking for a while.

-x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*xx*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x* x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x-

Seto pulled Joey close and pressed him up against his body while their tongues continued to duel. Joey let out a delightful little whimpering sound as the brunette slipped his warm hands under the oversized shirt he was wearing and started running them gently up and down his back. In one of their breaks for air Joey started to paw at the other teen's own shirt in a request to have the garment removed. Seto obliged and removed his hands to unbutton the silk shirt that the blonde so desperately wanted gone.

Joey sat transfixed, his awaking erection getting bigger, as each inch of pale milky skin and lean, firm muscle was revealed to him by the CEO's talented hands. The blonde was aching to touch his soon to be lover but Seto stopped him with his own request to have Joey remove his shirt too.

Joey started to feel self-conscious and some panic managed to arise between his feelings of lust and love. His body wasn't nearly as flawless as the CEOs. His farther, street fighting days and recent kidnapping had left him with a litter of scars, not to mention some of the people he had been sold to before had been on the sadistic side and made him hurt before they took him. Joey was sure Seto would be repulsed when he saw him without his clothes on.

His hesitancy caused some alarm in the older teen and something must have shown on his face as the brunette stopped trying to take his shirt off.

"Are you alright puppy? Am I going to fast? Do you want me to stop?"

The blonde shook his head, he didn't ever want to stop and he really wanted to be kissing Seto again but what could he possible say. "Nothing's wrong."

"Come on puppy, there has to be something wrong. You promised me you would say if something was bothering you. What is it? I won't be mad if you want to stop."

"It's not going to be me that is going to want to stop though, it'll be you. You won't want me when you see how disfigured I am. Not when you're so perfect." The blonde waved an arm to the revealed skin between Seto's open shirts.

"Oh Joey" the brunette pulled the other teen close to him, causing the blonde to shudder, he could feel Seto's bare skin beneath his fingers and he could resist running his hands up and down from the slim waist to the broad shoulders. He noticed a shiver when he passed over the CEO's dusty nipples and pinched them experimentally. Seto let out a small moan that ended in a breathy sigh when he felt the blonde pinch his nipples and then start rolling them. He needed to get whatever was bothering Joey cleared up now. He wasn't going to last much longer before he really lost control and forced himself on the blonde.

"Puppy is this about you scars?" the other teen tensed, his hands stopping their exploring. There was a pause before Joey gave the smallest of nods. "You don't have to worry puppy. I have seen your scars before remember, that day in school." Seto took the blondes unresisting head between his hands and gently kissed the slightly swollen lips. "I still think you beautiful."

"You do?" Joey asked in surprise. Seto just nodded himself before pulling the blonde in for a longer kiss.

"Take off your shirt puppy; I don't want you to hide from me."

Joey hesitated for a second before deciding that if he really wanted Seto to make love to him he would have to be comfortable with everything, or the other teen would stop and start thinking he was going too fast. He didn't bother to undo the buttons as the shirt was big enough to be pulled over his head without needing to. Seto moaned when he saw sight of Joey, much as the blonde had done before, and shrugged off the rest of his own shit. The brunette pulled Joey close until the smaller teen was sitting on his lap and they were pressed against each other, chest to chest.

Joey couldn't get enough of the feeling of skin against skin and started to try and rub himself against the older teen like a cat. Seto suppressed a groan when Joey started moving and once again took the others head in his hands and forced them into a kiss. This one was a lot needier and left the blonde whimpering at the lust and passion it conveyed. Seto's hands started to run up and down Joey's back once again, not minding about the numerous scars and even tracing a few gently, before coming to rest on the smaller teens boxer clad bum.

Joey felt the hands on his bum but didn't react as he was too caught up in the kiss, he did jump however when Seto used his hold to pull him close while thrusting his hips up at the same time. The effect was that both teens' now large and rather noticeable erections were pressed together, creating delicious friction that lead Joey to let out a startled moan and Seto to groan with his own pleasure. The older teen then latch on to his puppy's neck and start working on giving the blonde a rather large hicky to remember the night with.

Both teens continued to thrust their hips together and delighted in the friction it caused until Joey started to get desperate for more and began begging sweetly.

"P-please, Setooooo!...I want...I want to, mahhhh!...want you to m-make l-looooove to me properly...pleeease, oh please...more, need more..._Seto!_."

The brunette couldn't stand it much more either and finished his third love bite to his puppy's collar bone before flipping them on the bed.

The blonde whimpered as he lost body contact with the other teen as well as the friction on his straining cock. His boxers did nothing to hide just how excited their frantic thrusting had left him and he didn't think Seto was much better either judging by the way he was flushed and panting like he had just ran a marathon.

The brunette was hovering above Joey, who was now lying on his back on the enormous bed, his large hands either side of the blonde's head. Seto couldn't help moaning at the site his soon to be lover made. The untameable mop of blonde hair was tossed haphazardly across the pillow and framed his puppy's face like a halo. Those amber eyes were sparkling with love and pure desperate _need_ that he would be happy to fulfil in a short while. Shallow breaths were coming from between severely swollen red lips while a blush had stolen its way across Joey's face and most of his chest.

He could also see the large tenting in the teen's shorts that made him feel unbelievable proud to have put it there. It also made Seto inadvertently lick his lips and moan, both at the sight of his excited puppy and the wonderful little needy whimpers coming from him. All he wanted to do was ravish the blonde and pound him into the mattress so that he couldn't walk for days, but first things first, he was wearing far too many clothes.

Joey agreed with this and had started to tug on the CEOs belt, working a bit of the stiff buckle lose before the brunette took over. Seto managed to divest himself of his trousers quickly and groaned in relief as his erection was given more freedom within his black boxers. Joey was again transfixed as he stared at the tenting the older teens boxers and another little keening sound escaped him. Seto was _huge_. He was going to have that _in_ him. Joey was equal parts scared and excited. However, he didn't have much time to think about it as the brunette turned his attention back to making him into a pile of puppy goo.

"Spread your legs." Joey obediently did so and the other teen settled himself gently in-between them, slowly laying out the length of his body on top of Joey's, so that their chests and groins were touching. Seto swopped in for a kiss that the blonde happily returned before braking from the delicious lips and starting to make his way down his puppy's throat. Joey flung his head back to give the brunette more room and his breathing once again began to speed up and catch in his throat.

Seto worked fast, nipping and licking his way down and around all his previous love bites and leaving a few more until he reached his puppy's nipples. He could feel the blonde trying to thrust his hips up to release some of the pressure in his cock to express his excitement but the brunette had a firm hold on his hips.

Seto pressed down hard once with his hips and resisted moaning at the pleasure the action gave him. Joey however, was taken by surprise by the action and couldn't stop the loud keening sound from escaping his lips as he arched his back off the bed in pleasure. This brought his chest, and his nipples, quite nicely in front of Seto's mouth and he wasted no time in taking one of the pretty pick nubs into his wet cavern and rolling it once with his tongue before sucking it hard.

Joey moaned again, even louder and started pawing at Seto's back in an effort to find a way to cope with the overload of pleasure he was feeling. He back continued to arch of the bed as Seto teased first one of his nipples and then the other by sucking and nipping and rolling them with his tongue until he was sure they were just as hard as his prick was.

_What was Seto doing to him?_ Joey wondered through the haze of pleasure and need that had descended on him. He had never felt like this, the sensations were driving him wild. He felt that he, or at least his cock, were going to burst. None of the other sexual experiences he had had ever made him feel like this. Never had they given him this much pleasure. What was worse was he wanted _more_. More, _More_, MORE! He wanted Seto's _bare_ cock grinding against his own, or thrusting into him. Pounding into him hard and quick and making him see stars. If this is what it was going to feel like when Seto finally made love to him Joey didn't think he would ever want to leave the bed again. _What was Seto doing to him?_

The brunette finally released his puppy's nipples from there torture. Joey was mumbling incomprehensibly but the CEO didn't think he noticed. He caught the word 'more' quite a few times and decided to oblige the blonde. To be truthful his puppy's delicious sounds and tantalizing squirming, as well as the hands running up and down his shoulders were making it hard for him too. Seto was getting desperate to start thrusting into the body beneath him and he still had to prepare his puppy. At this rate he was never going to last that long.

Licking his way down the firm stomach he could feel the muscles fluttering beneath his lips. He dipped his tongue teasingly into the blonde's belly button and delighted in the whimper it produced. He then reached the elastic of his puppy's boxers. Grabbing them in both hands he looked up into Joey's flushed face.

"I'm going to take these off now puppy. Last chance to stop."

"No, take them...I want...please Seto...I can't wait much longer..."

"Ok" not being able to wait any longer himself the CEO removed the offending piece of fabric in one swift motion.

Joey moaned as the cool air of the bedroom reached his red, swollen prick. God it felt good, he was harder than he could ever remember being, so hard it almost hurt.

It was Seto's turn to be mesmerized by the sight before him. Finally he was seeing his puppy's most prized appendage and he couldn't help thinking that it was beautiful. Red and thick and standing to attention. He couldn't help it when his hand reached out to touch it, giving Joeys cock once sharp upwards stroke.

The blonde arched his back again in surprise as he felt the hand pull on his cock. God, it felt _so_ good. Joey let out a moan and then even more babbled words as Seto continued to stroke his erection firmly.

Seto couldn't help smirking at his puppy's reaction to the first stroke of his prick, and decided to repeat the action several more times. Seto noticed a single bead of pre-come gathering on the head of his puppy's cock and lent forward, almost in a trance, to lick it off, running his tongue along the slit.

"_Arhhhhhhhhh!_ Seto! Don't...no more...Setooooooo, _arh_..." Joey trailed off as he started to pant erratically. Seto continued to lick and stroke his puppy, rolling the pre-come that had gathered around the tip and up and down the shaft until the swollen cock was liberally coated. Joey continued to shoat and scream and moan the entire time. Seto belatedly realised that his free hand had treacherously reached down and was stroking his own hard cock through his boxers. He couldn't take this much longer. Neither, apparently, could Joey.

"Seto! Seto stop..I'm gonna..."

The brunette released the prick from within his mouth and squeezed hard on the bases to stop the rushing explosion. Joey cried out once and then sank back onto the bed panting from his near release.

"Are you alright puppy?" Seto said and he raised himself to lie across his puppy again so their faces were only a few inches apart.

"Please Seto...make love to me...I want you...inside me...only want to cum...with you inside me..." the blondes confession was broken up by his panting breaths but Seto still couldn't help but groan at the explanation.

"I want that too puppy" realising he didn't have any lube with which to prepare his puppy Seto was lost for a moment. Joey seemed to recognise what he wanted though and blushed.

"There's some in the draw" he said flushing. Seto just smiled and kissed him as he reached over to the bed side table and felt around for the promised lube. Eventually he found it without breaking lip contact from Joey and liberally coated his fingers. He moved them down slowly to his puppy's entrance. The blonde gave a startled little yip when one lube coated figure started to circle his most privet place.

"Tell me if it hurts and try to relax"

"I will, just please. I want you in me. I want to make love"

"We will puppy, don't worry" Seto slowly pushed the first finger into Joey and thrust it and out a few times while looking at his puppy's face to make sure there was no discomfort. Seeing that there wasn't he gently started to curl his figure inside his puppy while the blonde made breathy moaning and keening sounds.

Encouraged by this the brunette started to add a second figure. Joey stiffened momentarily and Seto froze, letting the smaller teen get used to the intrusion. Eventually Joey relaxed enough for Seto to insert his finger in all the way. Deciding that Joey needed some distraction he started to kiss the blonde languidly. Joey soon relaxed completely and Seto started to thrust the two fingers in and out of the blonde's entrance while scissoring them continually.

Joey was soon lost in the pleasure and it wasn't long before he was moving against Seto, thrusting himself down hard on the fingers within him. Somehow Seto had managed to get the third figure in without the blonde noticing and was trying to find that one special place inside his puppy that would drive the other teen wild.

"SETO!" When the blonde cried out his name while thrusting himself down hard the brunette knew he had found his puppy's prostate and grinned against the sweaty chest beneath him that he had been licking the whole time.

"Please Seto, I'm ready. Please take me. I want you inside me. Want your lovely huge cock in me. _Please!_" Joey wailed, far too lost in pleasure to care what he was saying. Seto groaned at the dirty words but he couldn't hold himself in check anymore and tossed off his boxers so that his weeping erection was exposed to the cool air. Joey whimpered when he saw the leaking cock but didn't have the time to touch it right now as his hole was begging to be filled. He could feel it twitching erratically with want.

Seto could see it too and wasted no time in grabbing the lube and coating his cock in three quick strokes, moaning as he did so. He then positioned himself at the other teen's entrance and looked to Joey's face for confirmation that he was ready.

Joey smiled at him and tried to force his hips down on his own but Seto once again had a firm hold on them.

"Pushback against me and try to relax" Seto whispered. Joey nodded and then moaned as he felt something that definitely wasn't fingers pushing into him. He did as the CEO had told him to and began to push back against the intrusion. Pleasure built up in him as he was filled inch by inch until finally Seto was seated fully inside of him and Joey felt complete.

Seto had to restrain himself from thrusting in once the head of his cock broke through into the wet, hot entrance. He moved slowly, despite the torture he was feeling until Joeys muscles were gently clamping around his whole length and his balls were pressing into the other teen's bum.

God, it felt _soooo_ good. Seto panted as he lent above the blonde, their bodies finally connected. Joey too wore a look of bliss on his face and was gazing up at Seto in the same manner. However, Seto was having a hard time concentrating though his haze of pleasure. His puppy was so hot and tight, and hot and..._TIGHT!_

Seto let out an startled cry as he withdrew and slammed back hard into Joey in one hard thrust when his puppy walls clamped around him.

Joey was in bliss, he really was, but his body was still screaming for more and Seto wasn't moving. Joey hazily thought that maybe Seto thought he was hurt but the brunette had really done to good a job of preparing him for that. Trying to encourage his lover to move Joey clamped his muscles around the cock within him. The blonde wasn't prepared for Seto to shouted out and slam into him, hitting his prostate and making his see stars. Joey threw his head back and let out his own pleasured cry as he arched off the bed. Neither teen could stop after that.

Joey wrapped his legs securely around Seto's hips for a better angle, rising up to meet the teen for each and every thrust. Soon they managed to get into a steady rhythm, with Joey getting more and more vocal.

"oh!...Se…tooooo…more, more…_ahhhhhhhh_, don…don't stop….more dragon….faster dragon! FASTER!...HARDER!...SETO!...DRAGON!"

The older teen released his own groans as the blonde got closer and closer to the edge, his muscles clamping erratically around him. Seto tried to keep his eyes open and memorise the sight of Joey in the throes of passion, but it was getting harder as his own releases crept up on him.

The trusting became more and more frantic as they neared the edge. Joey continued to shout, and the sound of both their asses slapping together echoed throughout the room.

"Seto…I'm gonna…more…so close" reaching between their sweat covered bodies Seto grabbed the forgotten shaft of his lover and started pumping shakily.

"Cum for me puppy."

"_arhhhhhhhh_!...ah, ah….AH!...SETOOOOOOOO!" Joey first screamed when the pleasure from his cock was added to pleasure of his prostate and then howled as his release burst forth. Throwing his head back one last time and arching almost entirely off the bed the younger teen's muscles spasumed as waves of pleasure washed over him.

The CEO managed a few more, hard, jerky thrust before plunging in brutally as it became too much. An animalistic cry escaped him as his body shook with his releases, filling the body beneath him with his hot seed. His body continued to shake even as he slumped boneless onto of the younger teen and his cock started to soften within him.

Laboured breathing was the only sound that filled the bedroom for the next few minutes.

Raising his head slowly the brunette gazed at his lover who was panting harshly with his eyes closed, and gently moved the sweaty bangs out of his face.

"Are you ok puppy, did it feel good?" Instead of answering the blonde simply opened his wide amber eyes and Seto had to catch his breath at the amount of gratefulness, trust and _love_ he found there. For an answer Joey pulled his dragon in to a long, sloppy kiss as he continued to bath in the afterglow of their coupling.

"Mnmmmm, I'll take that as a yes."

"That was brilliant Seto. Thank you for doing this for me."

The brunette frowned, "you do realise that this isn't just a onetime thing don't you puppy…unless you want it to be that is…but I really want a relationship with you, if you want it." The brunette was just too cute when he stuttered.

"I know, I want it too Seto. Just thank you, for trusting me when I said I would be alright…and making it feel so good."

"You know it felt good for me to, you're so tight puppy, and hot!" Joey blushed adorably and Seto couldn't help but smirk.

"Shut up! You jerk. You're just trying to embarrass me…and I probably won't be able to walk properly for a while what with how hard you were ramming into me."

"Good" Seto announced, then bent down to nibble at one of the hickys he had made on his puppy's neck, "then you won't forget who you belong to. Imagine it, you'll be walking to school with your friends and all you can think about is how good it felt to have my big fat cock in you. Forcing you to make all those adorable little noises, and start screaming, begging for me to have my sinful way with you."

"Shut Up! You embarrassing jerk! Oh, God. I'm never going to get that out of my head now. You've scared me for life. Get off, get off!"

Another smirk from the CEO was all Joey got before the older teen forced him to groan as he pulled out his softened cock from within him. Joey blushed even harder as he felt the older teen's cum start trickling out from between his legs.

"Eeeep! I need to get clean. I need a shower," the blonde exclaimed but he couldn't get up as Seto was holding onto his hips and looking down at his most intimate area. "_Ah_, Seto stop it. Don't look there!"

"Why, I like looking at beautiful things. Look, that greedy little hole of yours is still twitching."

Joey was sure he was now bright red as he buried his head in his hands to block out the CEOs victorious smirk.

-x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x *x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*xx**x*x*xx*-

"Let me go your pervert! Let go!" Seto took pity on his puppy and dropped his legs. He then removed the hands covering Joey's face and lent down to give him a kiss.

"Stay here puppy; we'll have a shower in the morning."

"But I'm all sticky."

"Don't worry; I'll get you cleaned up. Its dragons job to look after his puppy, alright" a soft smile to show he liked the nickname Joey had given him in his pleasure induced bliss and Seto was off the bed and heading for the on-suite bathroom to get a wash cloth to clean up his puppy.

Once both of them were clean and no longer sticky Seto slipped into bed beside his puppy and pulled the blonde teen close, running one hand through the mop of golden hair.

"Good night puppy."

"Mnnnnn, nigh' dragon" Seto couldn't help but smile as the younger teen pressed his face into his chest and fell asleep with a contented sigh. It wasn't long before he joined him.


	32. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

The next day both Seto and Joey were worrying about what to tell their friends. They were definitely _their_ friends after a long argument which Joey won by kissing the brunette until he submitted. Both decided that they would say something if asked but otherwise keep quiet about their relationship for now. A long discussion about whether both of them were in this for the long run discovered that both teens had similar feelings and were hoping for a long term relationship with the person they had come to care for.

Mokuba revealed that he definitely knew what was going on when he came down at breakfast. Joey and Seto at the time were eating their breakfast of cereal and juice (or in Seto's case, strong black coffee) when the younger Kaiba entered the room. The raven haired kid stopped short his eyes wide before screaming the house down and pointing an accusing finger at his brother. The unexpected sound of screaming caused Seto to rather comically spill his mouthful of coffee all over the kitchen table.

"YOU! How could you! I'm your own brother for God's sake!"

"What!" exclaimed Seto, "Mokuba what did I do?"

The boy glared angrily at him, dropping his hand back to his side and clenching both of them into fists. "YOU SCARED ME FOR LIFE! I can't believe you could do something like that without thinking of my innocent ears. My room is _opposite_ yours remember! How could you have sex like that without warning me to wear earmuffs first?"

"_Oh my God_, you heard us!" Both Kaiba's looked to Joey, who had turned a rather attractive shade of red in Seto's opinion. The CEOs mood soared when he thought about all the other ways he could make the blonde turn that red again, now that they were finally in a relationship. This good mood lasted all of five seconds and then crashed and burned at his puppy's next words.

"I can't _believe we did that_! Mokuba heard us!" Said kid muttered something about the whole town hearing them and this only angered the blonde even more. "I'm _sooooo_ embarrassed and you just sit there smirking. I'm _never_ having sex with you again!" with that the flustered blonde fled the room.

It was rather comical how the brunettes face fell so dramatically at the last statement. "But puppy…" Too late, Joey was gone. Rounding on his brother the CEO glared at Mokuba. "This is all your _fault_. Now my puppy won't let me touch him!"

"Hay don't blame me, I'm the innocent one in all this. Think of it as the perfect opportunity to invest in some sound proofing." Mokuba then turned his nose up at his only brother and set about getting his own breakfast. Seto continued to glare at him before deciding his time was better spent trying to make his puppy see reason.

A shouting match, much more embarrassment for Joey, a groping attack by the brunette in the bathroom and a narrowly missed black eye for Seto and both teens were arriving at school after dropping Mokuba off. Seto secretly vowed to ground the kid till he was twenty two for embarrassing his puppy so much that he wouldn't let him touch him. Though the CEO did reluctantly admit that soundproofing the bedroom (and some of the other rooms) would be a good idea of he planned to make love to his puppy as much as he wanted to.

Joey was still in a huff with him when they got to the classroom but Seto decided it was best not to try and comfort him there as it might reveal their relationship to their friends earlier than they planned. This was a moot point when Yugi immediately spotted a hickey on Joey's neck that they had over looked.

"Joey, why do you have a love bite on your neck?" Yugi's innocent amethyst eyes stared curiously at the blonde while Joey's own honey amber orbs widened in surprise and panic.

"Ah…what? I don't have a love bit. Do I? It's no reason, nothing you needed to worry about."

"Joey?"

"Yeah" the blonde replied meekly as he sunk further down behind his desk, turning his collar up in the process.

"You're a terrible liar."

"…Yeah"

"So who did you get together with? Was it Kaiba?" said Yami, coming up behind and wrapping his arms around Yugi's waist. Joey all but jumped out of his seat in panic.

"_How did you know?_ I mean, no. It's not Seto."

"You called him Seto." Yugi helpfully pointed out.

"I mean _KAIBA_! I mean…we didn't…stop grinning at me like that! YOU!" Joey shouted rounding on the brunette that was sitting a couple of rows behind him. "Come over here and help me."

"Why would I do that puppy? It's much more entertaining to watch you squirming from here." Seto smirked, nodding his head in greeting to both Yugi and Yami.

"Basterd!"

"Certainly, but you love me anyway."

"…Damn!" Joey whispered, not being able to come up with a comeback. The blonde was just about to send his most threatening glare at the smug brunette when a hand landed on his arm. Looking up he found two pairs of amused amethyst and ruby coloured eyes staring down at him.

"It's ok Joey. We're happy that you two finally got together."

"You are? Wait, what do you mean finally?"

"Oh please," Yami spoke "everyone knew you two liked each other. It was rather obvious. Heck, even Bakura noticed, and he's the least romantic person on the planet."

Joey just stared dumbfounded at his friends. Was he really that obvious?

"You know I don't think you can say that about Bakura. I heard he set up a bath for Ryou to apologise for embarrassing him so much, and he ordered him his favourite take out, and he even braved the dreaded toaster to make him breakfast in bed." Yugi said petulantly, frowning deeper with each statement. He then turned in his lovers arms and stared enquiringly up at the former pharaoh. "How come you never do any of those things for me Yami? You've never once took me out for my favourite meal, or ran me a bath…would you really take on the toaster for me…or am I just not worth it?"

Yami looked distinctly uncomfortable and angry that Bakura had proven to be a better romantic than him. "Now, Yugi…"

Joey sighed as the two duellists got into one of their many bickering arguments over being romantic and the danger of kitchen appliances, glad his love life had lost its interest for the moment. Looking over to his own lover he saw the brunette tapping the usually empty seat beside in invitation and quickly scurried over.

"So, apparently everyone knows we like each other and that we're a couple." The blonde said casually. One strong arm sneaked around the back of his chair too pull him closer to the brunette.

"Apparently they do puppy. You know, you really do look cute when you panic like that."

Joey frowned, "don't think you're off the hook mister. I'm still not having sex with you. I can't believe we did that to Mokuba." The younger teen buried his flaming face in the firm chest of his lover. Said lover chuckled and then smirked evilly, leaning down to whisper in the blonde teens ear.

"Not to worry puppy. I've called the company and they're getting the mansion soundproofed as we speak. You'll be able to scream as loud as you want to."

"Shut up!" cried Joey as he pushed himself away from the laughing brunette. "I can't believe you would say things like that." If the amber eyed boy wasn't red before, he certainly was now. Seto thought the colour was just as adorable and sexy as the first time he saw it on his lover.

"Hummm, I wonder if my fan girls will find that colour on you as attractive as I do?" he wondered aloud. The blush quickly drained from Joey's face to leave pasty white horror in its place.

"Oh God…" he breathed in terror as he finally noticed the female death glares being sent his way. Seto just looked on amused.

…**Meanwhile in Tokyo City…**

Mr. Malvada was not happy sitting in his lavish office with city views, located on the top of his company's skyscraper. He had hired those thugs to do the simple job of kidnapping the younger Kaiba brother so he could issue demands to the older in exchange for the kid's safety. His plan had been brilliant. He wouldn't have asked for simple money, he would have demanded for legally binding contracts to be signed that would make him the new owner of Kaiba Corp., and keep Seto Kaiba firmly in his pocket. Instead the men had not only kidnapped the twerp they had managed to nab one of his friends and his younger sister as well. Thanks to this incompetence the older kid had managed to lead the other two to safety and he had lost his bargaining chip.

Mr. Malvada had consoled himself by thinking they could still use the youth to command the older Kaiba brother, but his desire to make the other pay for ruining his plans and allow the thugs to have a bit of sadistic fun had backfired and given Rowland, the leader of Kaiba security team, time to find him.

Every other plan he had tried from then on had failed just as miserably, and the final failer had come when he had employed the youths own farther to nab him. The idiot had taken his son and sped off, taking some of _his money_ too. The brute had even failed to kill his son like he wanted and got himself beaten up in the process. To add insult to injury his top hitman employee went and disappeared while taking the last bit of _HIS MONEY _with him.

It was for these reasons that Mr. Malvada was definitely not in the mood to talk to visitors when someone knocked on his door well outside normal office hours. His mood only got worse when it opened without his consent and he saw who it was.

"Hello Mr. Malvada, I know we haven't got an appointment but a serious matter has arisen and I simply _must_ speak to you." Spoke Rowland calmly. Not a sadistic man, despite his job, he still couldn't stop a twisted smile appearing on his face when he saw the man who had caused so much trouble for the Kaiba family and their friends. He knew it was unprofessional to be close to his employers, but he had been with the family so long that he counted them as his own…and _no one_ hurt _his_ family.

His gun was levelled lazily at the other mans head and he had no intention of putting it down. If Rowland had had his way he would have shot the basterd right there, but it would be a lot of hassle to clean up the body and Seto had other plans.

Mr. Malvada wasn't a stupid man, far from it, but even his brain shut down when staring down the barrel of what could soon be his death. The instinct to run was welling up within him but fear and the feeling of helplessness held him in place. It was obvious he had been found out, Kaiba had sent his men and now he was going to die, he was sure of it.

Rowland walked slowly into the room like he owned it and spoke in the same calm voice he used before. "We have the building surrounded and all your upper employees have been rounded up and taken already. You can try and press the emergency button behind your desk but we cut the wires and disabled the signal. I wouldn't even think of reaching for the gun in your draw. I am _very_ certain I am a quicker shot than you are and you wouldn't want to be leaving here with hole in your head now, would you?"

Mr. Malvada gulped noisily.

Rowland walked up to him, pressed the barrel of his gun to his head and started to pull the trigger. He could see the guy sweating, the fear building within him. He waited until the man was physically shaking before pulling the gun away and smacking the butt of it hard into the guy's temple.

Mr. Malvada felt a millisecond of surprised relief before the world went dark.

…**Back at school…**

Seto was interrupted in history class when his pocket phone vibrated. He knew it was important as that phone happened to be his personal mobile with only a select few people knowing his number and Mokuba knew better than to phone during class. Taking a quick glance at the teacher, who was reading a trashy female magazine while letting the _extremely_ dry documentary about World War One play out. The rest of the class was either asleep, talking quietly, playing board games, or in the case of Ryou and Bakura snogging shamelessly in the corner. '_Huh'_, why he didn't think to use the situation like that and ravish his puppy he didn't know. Looking down at said puppy he found the blonde resting against him while taking a quick nap and looking absolutely adorable. Seto couldn't help but smile. '_Ah, well…there's always next time._' He thought.

Getting back to the matter at hand Seto reached inside his trench coat and pulled out the small device, flipping the screen open and putting it to his ear, "yes?"

"Mr. Kaiba, sir," was Rowland's gruff reply from the other end, "we have bound and captured the higher ups of _Reus Corp _and have sent them to the holding facility. No one will have any idea what happened to them."

"Good work Rowland, don't forget to leave them my note."

"Will do sir"

"Good, call me again when they get there, goodbye" Seto snapped the phone shut again and his smile turned to one of sadistic pleaser at capturing those that had caused his puppy so much pain.

"Seto?... Who was it?" his conversation must have woken Joey up.

"Good news puppy, we won't have to worry about those basterds coming for you again."

"You mean you got the people who tried to get me and Mokuba kidnapped."

"Exactly, and trust me they won't be bothering us again." Joey wasn't sure exactly what had happened to the basterds that had hired people to torture him, but decided he really didn't want to know judging by the smile playing on his lovers face.

Joey was going to return to his nap and dream about dancing hedgehogs with hotdogs when a pair of strong arms circled his waist and the teen suddenly found himself sitting in his lovers lap.

Joey didn't even have time to squeak in embarrassment as he was made to straddle his Seto face first on the chair and found his mouth covered with the brunette's own lips and a familiar tongue eagerly being shoved down his throat. Apart from a few fan girls glaring in their direction, no one tried to stop them and Seto finally took advantage of the situation to ravish his puppy.

…**Secure holding facility somewhere in Antarctica…**

Mr. Malvada opened his eyes and recognised the feeling of cold steal beneath him. Looking around the room he was in he saw that it held a small bed with thin blankets, a desk, a couple of pens, paper, a toilet and a sink. Nothing else.

Getting up he brushed his off his suit and tried to recall the last thing that happened. Kaiba had found them out, Rowland had come to his room, there was a gun pointed to his head and relief when he realised he wouldn't be shot and then…darkness, and he woke up here.

So Kaiba had ordered him to be taken here…the question of the moment tough was, _where was here?_

Going to the large iron door he touched the handle and was immediately surprised when it opened without a sound. Smirking, he figured someone up there must like him and stepped out into the corridor and began walking. It didn't take Mr. Malvada long to realise he was going uphill quite steeply. An hour and a bit latter the floor levelled out and he arrived at another door. He had passed many others in the corridor on his way there but they all revealed cells identical to his own. What intrigued him about this door was the note attached to it on plain white paper with the Kaiba Corp. logo in the top right hand corner.

_Owner of Reus Corp., Mr. Malvada_

_You are welcome to escape. The door is open. Unlike you I don't employ the same methods of holding my enemies hostage in a locked facility. Have a nice life._

_Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp._

Mr. Malvada smirked and figured that Kaiba wasn't such a teenage genius as everyone claimed. He opened the door.

The wind almost blew him back in, ice particles whipped against his face in the draughts. Outside lay an expanse of snow and ice, mountains could be seen pocking out of the ice in the distance but nothing lay in-between. The cold chilled him to the bone in seconds and Mr. Malvada grabbed the steel bar with all his might and slammed the door closed once more, eyes widening horror.

Snatching the note off the door he noticed there was writing on the other side. It read.

_I have not locked the door; you may leave anytime you wish. Good luck being the first one man team to cross the Antarctic._

_Sincerely, you captor Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp. The person you should have never of messed with._

The man slumped to the floor. Outside the wind continued to bang against the door. No one heard his screams and no one heard it when Mr. Malvada began to cry.


	33. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

The media had a field day, apparently someone in school let slip about their relationship on the first day. The gossip spread like wildfire through text and it wasn't long until people were talking about it online. After that it was only a matter of hours until the press had the full story. The TV vans and new reporters camping outside the school lead to Seto and Joey making a daring escape, a dash to the limo around the back entrance, snatching Mokuba from school and barricading themselves in the mansion as the press banged and shouted by the front gates. Seto called for a formal press conference as soon as possible and later that day he and an extremely embarrassed Joey were standing in front of the rabid reporters as they shouted out rather personal questions. Seto was just getting more and more annoyed but the blonde was beat read in humiliation. Eventually Joey couldn't take it anymore and ended up screaming at the reporters. Seto, seeing that another threat of 'no sex' was forth coming butted in with all the anger of a raging dragon.

"LOOK YOU BLOODY VALTURES, ME AND JOEY ARE TOGETHER! WE ARE GOING TO _STAY_ TOGETHER AND THAT'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW! Now that that is cleared up you can _piss off_ and any _other_ suitors out there can _piss off_ as well!" After that he had grabbed the younger teen by the waist, pulled his head back by his golden hair and snogged him silly. All the while the flashes of more than a dozen cameras were going off and the fan girls were screaming in rage in the background as they were held back by security.

The picture, accompanied by a rather lewd article was in every newspaper the next day.

Safe to say, Joey was so embarrassed that Seto still ended up with no puppy lovings for a while…

"Puppy?" Joey looked up from the maths homework he had been troubling over for the last fifteen minutes. The hype about their relationship had calmed down a lot in the last two weeks, though Joey was still receiving death threats from fan girls at school but it had become such a normal appearance that Joey didn't really take any notice of it anymore. What Yugi said about all of their friends knowing they would get together turned out to be true; Bakura and Marik even had a bet going on how long it would take.

Bakura won.

Marik hadn't been happy.

Malik had sorted out the problem by jumping his boyfriend in the corridor.

Everything was back to normal…or as normal as they get when half of your friends are reborn people from ancient Egypt, have shadow powers and hang out with their lovers, two ex-gang members and two CEOs of major companies. Tristan had been a bit put out by the relationship but a few words from Joey and a threat to Seto should he ever hurt the blond and he was happy enough to let his best friend continue dating the brunette. Joey mused that Seto and his relationship had gone from strength to strength in the last few weeks and he had fallen even deeper in love with the brunette. However, back to the matter at hand, said brunette wanted him.

"Yeah Seto"

"It's your birthday soon isn't it?" Joey blinked. Well…he hadn't been expecting that.

"Yeah it is Seto…in a week on Friday." The amber orbs watched as the CEO nodded once and then went back to his laptop. The room was silent apart from the tapping of keys. "…Er Seto?"

"Hummm?"

"…Why did you want to know?"

"Huh, oh, no reason. Just wanted to see how much time I had to get your present."

"Oh…what is my present?" the blonde was now sitting on the floor in front of the brunette, math homework forgotten and looking up at his boyfriend with the same excitement as a six year old on Christmas. The CEO smirked and placed his laptop onto the side table so he could swoop down and give his puppy a kiss, Joey was to adorable for his own good. Ending the kiss Seto looked into the slightly glazed eyes of his lover.

"You'll just have to wait and see…now finish your math homework, the more time you spend in detention the less time I get to ravish my puppy." The laptop was back in his hands and the CEO was typing once again. Joey pouted. Then seeing that Seto wasn't paying any attention to him turned back to the dreaded math homework.

…**Joey's birthday, late evening…**

"Thanks for the party Seto" whispered the blonde after the last of his friends shut the door to go home. Wrapping his arms around the taller teen's neck he leaned up to give him a _very_ thorough thank you kiss.

"Mmmmm, you're welcome puppy. I have to say it wasn't as…terrible…as I thought it would be."

"See! I said you would like the guys…now on to more important things…where the _hell_ is my present? Don't think I hadn't noticed you hadn't given me one!"

Seto smirked and snaked his hands around his puppy waist to hold him close, placing his head on top of the shorter teens mop of blonde hair. "Don't worry Joey; she should be here any minuet."

"…She?" the blonde asked in confusion. He was just beginning to worry if Seto had gotten him a stripper for his birthday when the door was flung open.

"JOEY!"

The blonde turned around so fast Seto worried that he got whiplash. "Sis?"

"Did you miss me?" the girl replied with a smile while she moved out of the door frame and shut it with another bang.

Suddenly Seto's arms were no longer filled with his puppy as the blonde had somehow teleported all the way across the hall and was now swinging his sister around in delight while hugging her tightly. Both siblings had silly grins plastered across their faces.

"Serenity! What are you doing here? Why are you here? What about mum? How did you get here? _What the hell is going on?"_

"Ha, ha…come on Joey" replied Serenity as she dragged her still dazed older brother in to the living room and onto the couch. Seto took a seat opposite them and smiled at his puppy's happiness. "Don't you like your present?" Serenity asked sweetly.

"…Present?" Joey seemed a bit dazed.

"Yeah, Seto made it so I could arrive on your birthday and stay for a few weeks. I'm your birthday present!" She screamed in delight but Joey was no longer listening, as soon as the brunettes name had slipped past the girl's lips the blonde's head had immediately turned to him. The intense gaze he was receiving from those wide honey orbs was starting to make the CEO uncomfortable.

"I err...I just wanted t…" the teen had no time to finish his embarrassed explanation as he found his lap full with a very grateful puppy who seemed to have teleported across the room again to straddle him in his chair. The blonde held his lovers head in his hands and brought his lips forcefully down on the others.

Seto felt the tongue enter his mouth and start playing with his own. His puppy seemed at a loss for words and was trying to express all his gratefulness and 'thank yous' in that one kiss. Seto wasn't complaining, in fact he was very sure that he had forgotten how to breathe as the kiss seemed to be going on for a long time. Eventually the kiss ended as the blonde pulled back, but his hands continued to cup Seto's face. The brunette was breathing heavily and was sure his eyes were glazed over in happiness. The blonde seemed to have forgotten entirely that his younger sister was in the room and was gazing at him with a look that just begged the CEO to ravish him.

"I love you" breathed Joey, so overcome with happiness. "I love you…I love you…I love you" each pause was filled with another passionate kiss. The teens were getting ready to continue kissing for the entire night when a small cough from behind interrupted them.

Joey turned round in Seto's lap to find his younger sister looking at them with a blush on her face and turned crimson himself. However, the blonde was far too happy right then to be really embarrassed so the blush soon receded and he started smiling again.

"Hay sis why don't I show you around. Mokuba's probably playing on his games now and I've got a few new ones I want to try out. Fancy coming with me, because let me tell you, you haven't played a video game until you've played it on 150 inch movie screen." Climbing off his boyfriends lap he had his sister's hand in his own and was pulling her out the door while he continued to babble excitedly. The sound of footsteps running up the stairs was soon heard throughout the mansion.

Seto continued to sit in the empty room, his eyes glazed over and staring into space. After a moment his groaned in despair and shifted in his trousers, trying to get rid of, or at least hide, his arousal. His puppy really had no idea what he did to him.

…**Three years later, Kaiba Mansion…**

"Oh come on Joey, Seto will be back in a minute, stop worrying."

"Serenity, I haven't seen my lover in three months or talked to him in the last twenty four hours, I am _allowed_ to worry. You would worry too if Mokuba was gone that long." Serenity and Mokuba blushed; they had received over a month of teasing from their older siblings when they got together. Seto and Joey said it was payback for all the previous years when they had teased them. The blonde didn't notice the younger teen's embarrassment though; he was too busy staring at the door, waiting for his Seto to get back from his three month business trip to America.

The two weeks after his birthday when Serenity had visited had been some of the best of his life. Joey had shown Seto just how grateful he was by allowing the brunette to dress him in whatever he wanted and order him around in the bed room. He had been dying of embarrassment to begin with but by the end of it, even with the new soundproofing, everyone could hear Joey moaning and howling loudly in pleasure. Without the blonde knowing Serenity had approached his lover to tell him that she would much rather live with Joey as her guardian instead of her mother now that Joey was eighteen.

The court hadn't been eager to give guardianship of a little girl to a teenager but a little push from Seto and the revealing that her mother was in the habit of abandoning her in the house and ignoring her when she went parting or out with her new boyfriends (she had a new one every month) had lead to serenity moving in permanently into the Kaiba mansion.

Seto's and Joey's relationship had been battered by all sides from the press, Seto's work colleagues and scores of fan girls, and had come out all the stronger for it. It was fully accepted by everyone by now that Seto and Joey was a couple and anyone who thought they could mess with them should just BACK OFF!

With Joey's influence and help Seto had also started taking regular breaks and cutting down on his work hours to spend more time with his family. The blonde had raided his company and found him the most trust worthy and competent of his employees to head the departments and take care of all the annoying little things that used to be given to Seto. With his work load delegated to trustworthy people Seto had found himself with a lot more free time to enjoy and had started inventing and making games once again. Kaiba Corp. had expanded and was doing better than ever. One of the first things it had done had invested in a chain of bookshops across the Japan called '_Somnium _Books', with Michiko heading the company chain the stores were doing well and gaining popularity quickly.

The CEO had graduated high school at the top of his class and Joey did surprisingly well too thanks to the brunette. Seto had then gone to Tokyo University and got a degree in business in less than a year. Joey himself was a collage studying literature and art, trying to realise his dream of writing and illustrating his own books for all ages. He was doing very well and had almost finished his course.

Serenity and Mokuba had grown closer together and eventually discovered that their feelings for each other were different from sister and brother and had got together a few months ago. They did appear to be splitting up anytime soon. Both were at the top of their classes.

All of Joey's friends were still in their relationships, Bakura and Ryou had gone to England as Ryou wanted to study ancient history there. Yugi and Yami were still at the shop and Yugi was in collage himself studying physics while Yami was still doing well as the king of games. Duke was running his company full time and Tristan was well on his way to becoming a star motorcycle and car designer. Marik and Malik had gone back to Egypt and were doing what they do best, causing chaos and excavating (raiding) tombs…and Joey was currently waiting by the door for his lover of three years to get home so he could show him just _how much_ he had missed him.

"Joey, I know you miss Seto but that's no reason to stand in the way of the do…" began Mokuba, trying once again to convince the blonde to move. Unfortunately it fell on deaf ears as at that moment the door opened to reveal his older brother. At twenty one Seto didn't look much different than he had before, he still wore trench coats, though they were a little less gravity defying and his hair was still neat if slightly longer. Joey however had grown his hair out in an attempt to tame it which had evidently failed as it was still as messy as always, but he had liked it better that way and often wore it tied up at the back in lose ponytail. He had grown a bit but still wasn't as tall as the brunette and the blonde's sense of fashion had improved greatly with the introduction of his sister into his life. Three meals a day and regular working out had given him a trim, but well toned body that his clothes clung too. Seto was currently drinking in the sight of his puppy after so long and was almost itching to take the clingy shirt off and feel that skin beneath his hands after so long.

"Hello puppy, did you miss me?" said Seto with an easy smile. Raising his eyes to see two honey orbs staring at him on complete happiness and with a kind of building excitement within them, almost like…oh!

The brunette put his suitcase down and opened his arms wide for the blonde. "Come here puppy"

"_Seto!_" shouted Joey as he jumped into his lovers arms, wrapping his legs around his lover's waist and giving him a long, thorough welcome back kiss. Seto wrapped his arms around his puppy to hold him up and immediately kissed back with enthusiasm.

"It's good to be home." He smiled after the kiss had ended. Joey decided that he didn't want to let go of his lover any time soon so remained in his arms.

"Hi big bro, I hope you don't expect me to kiss you too." Mokuba called out cheekily. Joey started placing butterfly kissed down Seto's neck.

"I don't think your girlfriend would like it if you did. Hello Mokie', hello Serenity it's good to see you two again."

Serenity, who had been glaring at her boyfriend turned her attention back to both of her big brothers. "Thanks Seto, did the trip go well?"

"…Humm, oh yes. It went well. They liked the inventions and games and there was nothing wrong with the business plan that we proposed. They were impressed by the person I chose to run the company over there and if all goes well Kaiba Corp. should be set up in the US in just over a year." Seto was slightly distracted with what his puppy was now doing with his tongue on his pulse point to answer straight away. He treacherous hands were trying to subtly find a way under his puppy's shirt without dropping the blonde.

Mokuba, who knew his brother all too well, realised what was happening and decided it was time to leave the two lovers alone. They could always ask about the trip later, when Seto wasn't about the jump Joey's bones. Taking his girlfriends hand he started pulling her towards the lounge to watch a movie and do some kissing.

"Come on Serenity. If we don't go soon they're going to start going at it in front of us and I _really_ don't need to see _that _again." Said Mokuba, referring to the time he had come down for a glass of water during the night and found Joey and Seto going at it in the kitchen. Of course the work surfaces were burned...as were his eyes.

Joey barely noticed their absence as he continued to kiss his lover, sucking on Seto's neck in the way he knew the CEO liked it, and enjoyed the feelings of those large hands finally getting under his shirt and touching his skin.

"Oh, puppy..." Seto's voice was husky and sent shivers down Joey's spine, straight to his cock. "I missed you so bad puppy."

"I...missed...you...to...dragon" Joey replied while nibbling on Seto's pulse point. Pulling back and seeing the mark he had left on the CEOs pale skin Joey grinned in satisfaction before removing his legs from the brunette's waist and getting down.

"Puppy..." Seto whined as his hands were removed from Joey's back. The blonde was sure he saw a pout forming on those pale lips.

"Come to the bedroom Seto...I don't think the others would appreciate it if we did it here in the hall."

Seto growled in frustration, "I don't care what the others think; I haven't made love to my puppy in _three months_!" The brunette reached out to pull the other man close to him but Joey moved out of the way. Seto growled again.

"Patience Seto...if we don't go up to the bedroom I won't be able to change first." The blonde smiled seductively before turning on his heel and fling up the stairs while Seto was still puzzling out what he had said in his lust muddled brain.

'_Change? Why would my puppy needed to change? His puppy shouldn't have _any clothes_ on...mummm, naked puppy...'_ thought Seto, still feeling the effects of having his puppy around his waist a moment ago. _'Humm, what would he be changing into?...Oh!...He's not going to wear...is he? Oh, please say he is!'_

Seto flew up the stairs after his puppy.

Mokuba opened the door and poked his head out of the lounge. Seeing that his brother and adopted brother _weren't_ doing it in the hall he breathed a sigh of relief and went to get some popcorn from the kitchen.

Seto was sitting on his bed and staring at the bathroom door. His puppy was in there...more importantly his puppy was either_ naked_ in there or wearing...

The bathroom door opened.

'_Oh god! He did wear it!'_ thought Seto as he stared at his lover for the last three years and felt his pants become uncomfortably tight. If he wanted to jump his puppy before that was _nothing_ to what he wanted to do to his puppy _now_.

Joey was standing in the door way, gazing heatedly at the CEO with a shy smile on his face. Over his chest he had leather shirt that was cut like a waist coat and clung to him like a second skin. His nipples were stimulated by the close fitting fabric and Seto could see how aroused they were beneath the leather. Three clips kept the leather together in the middle of his chest but allowed the tight fabric to part at the top and the bottom revealing the blondes collar bone and tanned stomach with its tempting treasure trail of hair leading into his trousers…

The trousers were even worse than the shirt when it came to exciting the CEO. They were made out of the same light tan coloured leather and looked like they had been painted on to Joey's legs. They had no zip and a single clip to hold them up. Seto could barely wait to unclip them and releases the cock that was confined within and begging to be released, judging by the tightness of the leather.

On top of the blondes head perched a pair of bright, perky dog ears and around his waist sat a matching fluffy tail. A chocker around Joey's neck with 'Property of Seto Kaiba' stoned onto it finished off the outfit.

"You know, this is really kinky" Joey stated, just as he had every time he had worn the outfit for his lover.

Seto was sure he was drooling.

"God, puppy..." the brunettes voice was week from restraining himself.

"...Dragon..." Joey moved towards his lover, swinging his hips purposefully and watching as the brunettes eyes fallowed the movement. Wearing the leather outfit always made him feel embarrassed but he didn't mind doing it for Seto, as long as his lover continued to look at him like that. "...dragon..." the blonde repeated as he stopped in front of the brunette. Seto looked up from staring at the bulge of leather the was only centimetres from his face, and stared into lust filled amber orbs. "...dragon..._please_..." the blonde lifted one of the brunette's hands and ran it down his chest, over his nipple and shivered at the feeling, "...touch me..."

Seto lost it.

Standing up suddenly the brunette secured his hands around his puppy and pulled the other man until he was pressed against him while his tongue plundered Joey's mouth. The blonde whimpered as his mouth was ravished, using his tongue to kiss the CEO back just as passionately. Joey could feel his knees going week at the hunger shown by his lover and the pleasure coming from their erections rubbing together through the fabric of their pants. His already aroused nipples were being tortured as his chest was pressed against the brunettes and the leather over them was pulled even tighter.

"Oh, god...you just had to go and wear the outfit didn't you puppy." said Seto, releasing Joey's mouth so he could grind their erections together properly and grab his lover's ass. "I haven't been able to touch you for three months and then you go and wear something like _this_!"

The blonde whimpered again as his trousers grew even tighter as his cock hardened with pleasure. Seto's hands decided it was time to see if that ass was just as firm as they remembered and started to squeeze the two globes tightly.

The CEO growled, making the blonde look up from where he had been whimpering into his lover's chest. Looking at the flushed face of the blonde after so long Seto did the impossible and got even _more _aroused. Turning around and pulling the blonde by his ass, Seto threw the other man down onto the bed and covered him immediately with his own body. Seto's head was resting by his puppy's head as Joey's hands came up to pull on the CEOs shirt, trying to get the offending material off and touch the chest of his lover. "I'm not letting you out of this bed for days. You won't be able to even sit down without feeling my cock in you." Whispered the brunette, his voice deep and husky with desire.

"Ohhhhhhhh...Seto, dragon...please...puppy wants to feel his dragon..." panted the blonde "puppy wants his dragons big fat cock in him...puppy's been naughty, puppy needs to be punished."

Seto moaned as his arousal got even more painful, "God I love it when you talk dirty." Joey whimpered and started pulling on the CEOs shirt even more. Seto growled, "Don't worry puppy, dragon will claim you properly in just a moment. Dragon will have his cock in you soon enough."

The brunette pulled back to plunder the blondes mouth once again. With more space between their bodies Joey slipped his hands in between them and started on the buttons of the brunette's shirt. Seto let go of Joey's mouth and started to kiss down his puppy's neck and leave bright marks on the blondes exposed collar bone. Joey started moaning in pleasure and working at the shirt buttons more feverishly, almost ripping the shirt open to get to his lovers chest.

Seto slipped out of the opened shirt and chucked it to the side without caring where it ended up and moaned when the blonde's small hands started moving over his nipples, pinching and rolling them into hardness.

Seto decided that as nice as the leather was on his puppy he wanted to see the blonde's nipples as well. Unclipping the leather shirt quickly and revealing the tanned skin underneath the brunette took a moment to saver the sight of his puppy's chest and hard perky nipples after so long before attacking the nubs with his mouth.

Joey could feel his breathing speeding up in pleasure and his hand movements getting sloppy as his lover swirled his nipple with his tongue. Moaning loudly the blonde arched his back to his lover and tossed his head to the side. He could feel his cock aching in his overly tight leather trousers and started begging for release.

"Drag...dragon please...it hurts...I want…I want...please, haven't been touched in so long...haven't felt you for so _long_!"

Seto moaned throatily and felt the pain of his own erection getting to him. "I know puppy, I haven't felt you in so long either. I can't do any teasing now." Spinning around so Seto was the one lying on his back in the bed Joey looked down at him hungrily while whimpering and rubbing his leather clad cock against his lovers.

"Oh, Jooooeyyyy...we need to take the rest of our clothes off." Using his hands to gently turn hi puppy till he was facing away from him and positioned so his erection was in front of the brunette, Seto licked his lips at the leather bulge in front of him and moved the furry golden retriever tail out of the way. "Take off my trousers puppy, I'll take off yours"

Instead of doing what the brunette expected and using his hands his puppy bent his head down and started working at the trouser zip with his teeth. Seeing and feeling his wonderful puppy nuzzling around his manhood after so long almost sent Seto over the edge but he held on and turned his attention back to the bulge over him, trying to ignore the feelings coming from his cock as his puppy finally got the zip and button undone and worked on getting the fabric over his erection and off his legs.

Unclipping the leather in front of him quickly Seto set to the task of peeling the leather off his puppy's tanned legs, groaning at what he saw.

"Shit puppy...you even wore the thong!"

Under the trousers was a tight thong, the leather went between the blondes ass cheeks and confined his erection at the front. Taking the thin leather at his puppy's back Seto moved the thong strap slowly between Joey's firm cheeks.

"Ahhhh!" the blonde threw his head back as he felt the leather of his thong moving against his entrance and pulling on his erection. His breaths coming in short gasps of pleasure and his body shivering almost uncontrollably in arousal Joey ripped the boxers of his lover and allowed the brunettes erection to spring forth. The cock bobbed in front of the blonde almost teasingly as Seto automatically thrust his hips up in pleasure as the cool air of the bedroom hit his heated skin.

"Mnuuummm, puppy..." Joey breathed gently onto the engorged cock and gently licked the bead of pre-cum forming off the tip, more pre-cum had already been smeared across the flaming head in the confines of Seto's trousers and made the red velvety skin glisten. Seto released the thong as he felt the air on his cock and thrust his hips erratically. He then felt his puppy's hot breath breathing across his sensitive flesh and shivered. His shivering tuned to a cry of pleasure as a sinful tongue ran across his tip.

Taking his hands and moving to where he knew his lovers head to be he pushed the blonde's mouth towards his cock in an effort to get some release. "Please puppy...we're going to needed some lubrication...be a good puppy and please your dragon...dragon hasn't had his puppy lick him in so long."

"Ok dragon puppy's going to lick you...but dragon has to get puppy's thong off so he's ready for dragon latter...please take it off Seto, my cock hurts so bad."

Looking back up to the prick straining against the leather of the thong Seto could imagine that. Reaching up and pulling it down an inch Seto began to comply.

Joey felt the thong being pulled down and keened and whimpered as his cock was finally freed. Still shaking in pleasure from the feeling of the cool air on his swollen prick Joey lent down and started lapping up and down his lovers engorged cock with little puppy licks, thrusting himself into the fingers he felt entering him.

Seto slowly pulled the leather thong over his puppy's erection and moaned when it sprang free. The head and shaft were glistening with pre-cum, normally Seto would have spent some time stroking it and driving his puppy into madness but Joey's sinful tongue was driving him to madness already so instead he threw the thong across the room and focused on his puppy's entrance. Shuddering at the pleasure coming from his manhood Seto gently ran a finger around the blonde's entrance before slipping it in easily and moaning when he met no resistance.

"God, you even prepared yourself!" Joey whimpered and pushed himself back onto the finger within him. Seto added two more and stared scissoring them, searching for his puppy's sweet spot.

Joey stopped lapping at the CEOs prick and shuddered as he felt the fingers moving within him. His head was thrown back in pleasure as he felt Seto's fingers brush against his prostate. The blonde knew he couldn't take much more of this. He needed his lover in him and _soon_. Getting control of himself for a moment the blonde deep throated the brunette swiftly, causing the man beneath him to jerk upwards and groan in pleasure. Bobbing up and down quickly and making sure his lover was properly slick and lubricated Joey released the brunette's prick and moved away from the fingers so he could turn around until he was again face to face with his lover. Both men were breathing heavily in pleasure and were flushed. Knowing it was only going to get better Joey shuddered.

Seto reached up with one hand to pull the blondes head towards him for a lust filled kiss while the other went to the small of his back, sliding over the golden tail that was still tied around the blonde's hips and guiding his puppy so his entrance was positioned over his throbbing cock.

Joey moaned into the kiss and let himself to be pushed down onto his lover. The blonde arched backwards and howled in pleasure as his lover was finally seated within him. Seto threw his own head back and groaned as the heat surrounded his most sensitive part.

"Ahhh, I missed you so much puppy, missed feeling your lovely tight heat around me."

"Mummmm, I m-mist y-you too dragon, missed you in me" the blonde rolled his hips causing himself to start shaking in pleasure and Seto to groan again and thrust up with his hips. The brunette couldn't wait anymore and grabbed his puppy's hips, forcefully lifting the blonde up and thrusting him back down quickly.

The pace was fast and hard, both men releasing three months worth of frustration. Their pleasure built quickly and it wasn't long until Seto could feel the tightening of his balls. He could feel Joey's walls clamping around his cock as the blonde drew closer to his own release and stared crying out to be touched.

Seto decided to fill his puppy's wishes and reached down to grabbed his puppy's aching shaft. Pumping it up and down harshly in rhythm with their erratic thrusts.

"Ahh...ahhh, dra-dragon...i'm...i'm cum-cuming...ahhhhh!" howled Joey as he released over both of their chests. The blonde was shaking as the streams of white liquid continued to spurt out of him. Seto let out an animalistic cry and thrust himself up hard into his puppy before releasing himself into the blonde, himself shaking in pleasure as he filled up his lover.

Seto went slack as his release came to an end and Joey slumped over him. Both men were breathing erratically in great gasping breaths and still shaking in pleasure.

Seto moaned as he felt the blonde's walls twitching around his softening prick and slipped out of his lover, rolling to the side so he and Joey were both lying on the bed facing each other. He could feel the blondes cum drying on him and becoming a sticky mess but was to boneless to do anything but stare at his lover. Joey stared back at the brunette and smiled in happiness.

"Welcome home Seto."

"It's good to be home puppy." Replied the CEO as he brought his hand up to play with his puppy's hair. Both men stayed like that for a while as they got their breath back before starting to feel uncomfortable and sticky.

"Time for a bath puppy" said Seto as he got off the bed and moved to the bathroom, picking up his trousers and taking something out of them on the way. Starting the bath running he got a wash cloth and whiped the worst of the mess off and did the same to Joey when he entered the bathroom. Turning the taps off Seto eased himself into the large bath tub and sighed in pleasure. Joey joined him, leaning backwards so Seto's chest was pressed against his back. He too sighed in pleasure as the brunette's arms came around to encircle him from behind,

"I love you Seto"

"I love you too Joey" the CEO breathed into the blondes ear. Joey relaxed back even more and closed his eyes.

Seto had a quick debate with himself and decided that it was the perfect time. Reaching over to the side he removed an object from under a towel where he had placed it so his puppy wouldn't see and popped the lid open. Moving it in front of the blonde he gently called his puppy's name.

"Joey...Joey...open your eyes puppy."

"Hummm, Seto..." honey eyes opened lazily and stared at what was in front of him hazily. When the blonde's brain caught up with what he was seeing they bulged out of their sockets comically in surprise. Held in front of him by the brunette was a blue velvet box, within the box was a platinum and gold ring with a two single sapphire and topaz stones embedded within it. The platinum and gold were twined around each other in a never ending spiral and mesmerising pattern around the two stones. It was both elegant and beautiful in its simplicity.

"Seto?" asked Joey, his voice shaky in disbelief and hope. Turning around, not caring if he spilt the water, the blonde gazed wide eyed at his lover. "Seto, what is this? Is it...?"

The brunette smiled softly at his shocked puppy before answering his question. "Yes, puppy it is. Will you marry me?"

The brunette suddenly felt a strong wave of nerves wash over him. Now that he asked the question he couldn't help thinking about what he would do if his puppy said 'no'.

The blonde seemed to be at a loss for words. First he stared at his lover in disbelief, then the ring, then his lover, then the ring and then back to Seto again. Joey tried to get his voice working but it wasn't going to well, he was too surprised, shocked and overjoyed to do anything properly. He opened and closed his moth a couple of times but still no sound came out.

Getting more and more nervous with the wait Seto took Joey's silence the wrong way.

"It's ok Joey...I can understand if you..."

"Yes" Joey crocked out weekly.

"...don't want t..._what did you say_?"

"I said yes...I-I will marry you Seto." Joey felt completely stupid as tears gathered in the corner of his eyes but couldn't do anything to stop it. Seto was now the one at a loss for words; mutely he lifted his puppy's hand, took the ring and slipped it on his finger. Both men just stared at it for a moment as they let the fact they were now engaged to be married sink in before looking up at each other. Joey took one look at the love shinning in the brunette's deep blue eyes and launched himself at the CEO. Their mouths met once again and the kissing continued, neither man caring about the mess they were making on the bathroom floor.

"I love you Seto."

"I love you to puppy" replied the brunette before he grinned lecherously. Moving slightly he pressed his renewed erection between his puppy's ass cheeks. "Now, my fiancé, why don't we celebrate?"

The blonde whimpered.

After once in the bath, twice more in the bed and one last time in the shower both adults collapsed into sleep. Three months of frustrated separation and celebratory happiness worked out of them.

Waking up the next morning Joey was surprised to see that his lover was still asleep and snoring slightly. The blonde guessed he had jet lag and spent a moment thinking Seto looked rather cute with his hair ruffled like that and his mouth slightly open before the events of last night came back to him.

Looking at his hand Joey saw the simple ring sitting there and grinned in delight, overjoyed it hadn't all been a wonderful dream. His grin just got bigger when he thought about how excited his sister would be about planning the wedding and the hounding Seto was going to get from his friends after they found out. Strong arms sneaked around him and a hot breath blew across his neck.

"What are you grinning about?"

"Oh nothing, just the fact I can see my sister every day, I don't have to worry about my no good dad, I'm engaged to the most magnificent man in the whole of Japan and said man is going to get weeks upon weeks of lectures from my wonderful friends when they find out we are engaged while me and serenity plan the wedding."

"...Oh God, I forgot about that! Do we really have to tell them? It could just be a surprise." said Seto desperately.

"If I don't tell them who is going to give me away, or be my best man?" laughed Joey. The brunette looked at his fiancé and saw the mirth dancing in his eyes.

"You think this is funny don't you?" the blonde shrugged while grinning. Sapphire blue eyes narrowed and a smirk graced the brunette lips. "...well, if I'm the one telling our friends and getting chewed out _you_ can have the honour of telling my fan girls."

The colour drained from the blondes face in record time.

Looking at the mirth filled eyes of his lover and imagining the raging hoards of make up clad fan girls Joey could do nothing but whimper and hide behind his laughing fiancée.

"Seto, save meeeee..."

**The End**


End file.
